HYDERABAD: GHMC received Commendation Certificate from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Lucknow on Saturday for issuing Municipal Bonds for Rs 200 crore and awarded an incentive of Rs 26 crore under Atal Mission for Rejunevation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
The certificate was received by GHMC Mayor Bonthu Rammohan and GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy.
After the issuing, the municipal bonds, GHMC Commissioner analysed the whole scheme of bond issuance and observed that the taxable status of these municipal bonds leads to a higher coupon rate at the time of bidding when compared to issues which are of a tax-free nature.
In view of this, he immediately requested the Central Government to consider extending the facility of 2 per cent interest subvention on such bond issues in order to incentivise this market and facilitate participation of more civic bodies.
Further, in his communication, he implored the Central Government to explore the option of providing one time upfront interest subsidy at the beginning itself, at the rate of two percent on the total bond issue amount with a maturity period of 10 years. The Central Government was kind enough to extend the support to GHMC and the same has now been formalised as incentive scheme applicable for all ULBs.