VIJAYAWADA: Germany’s KfW Bank’s head of energy efficiency Dr Martin Lux has proposed to explore the possibility of supporting the AP housing department in project preparation and studies for the houses being constructed under its scheme.
In a virtual meeting with state government officials, held recently, he said that they were happy to collaborate with the Andhra Pradesh government, which is implementing the massive housing scheme with unique features of energy efficiency measures.
The state government has proposed to implement energy efficiency measures, best electricity distribution infrastructure, energy efficiency designs to the houses in Jagananna colonies.
It has also proposed to supply energy efficiency appliances at lesser rates than market prices to the beneficiaries of housing scheme for which the state government has urged the financial and technical cooperation of international organisations in this area.
Besides Martin Lux, KfW team had Alex Heuer, Rukmini Parthasarathy, Hemant Bhatnagar, Kiran and Sangeeta Agarwal. While thanking KfW for their keen interest to work with the state government and supporting its housing scheme, Special Chief Secretary for housing Ajay Jain said they have taken up construction of 15.6 lakh houses in the first phase out of which around 10.72 lakh houses have been already grounded.
Jain requested KfW to extend financial support for implementation of energy efficiency designs and supply of energy efficient appliances to the beneficiaries. He also requested KfW to share best practises and provide some expert human resources for training the housing staff and engineers, who in turn motivate the beneficiaries to go for energy efficiency measures.
Explaining that the state government will provide the best infrastructure in Jagananna colonies at a cost of around Rs 37000 crore, he said KfW can explore in providing funds towards electricity distribution infrastructure in these colonies for which the state government requires around Rs 7,080 crore. The Special Chief Secretary said the department has posted their requirements to PFC & REC and part of the funding can be made by KfW.
KfW Bank’s proposal