VIJAYAWADA: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Rs 3,324 crore loan for the development of Amaravati capital by World Bank is presently at the appraisal stage. In a statement in response to a question raised by YSRC MP V Vijay Sai Reddy in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Jaitley said that after completing the project appraisal, the loan negotiation will take place after which the loan will be approved by the World Bank.
Replying to the question that the Centre put a condition that 30 per cent of the money should first be released by the AP government for getting loan from the government, he said that as per guidelines of the Centre, for general category states, external assistance from the multilateral development banks like World Bank can be maximum 70 per cent of the total project cost while the remaining 30 % is to be contributed by the state government from its own resources.
“Once the project kicks off, the state government can claim reimbursement on a periodic basis the money spent by it from the World Bank, which will release the amount under the loan. In the case of the Amaravati Capital City Development Project, since the loan has not yet been approved, there is no utilisation and release of fund under the project,’’ Jaitley said.
To the another question raised Reddy, Union Minister of State for Finance P Radhakrishnan said that the Centre so far released Rs 1500 crore financial assistance for creating of essential facilities including Raj Bhavan, High Court, Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and Council.
He further stated that the state government had so far furnished utilisation certificates for the expenditure of Rs 1,583 crore to Niti Aayog. It may be recalled here that, a World Bank inspection panel, which had recommended a probe into the charges of forcible land pooling and others, against the Andhra Pradesh government for the construction of capital city Amaravati, has now sought six months time to decide if a probe is required or not.
The State Government sought $300 million loan from World Bank for Amaravati Capital city construction.