VIJAYAWADA: Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu reiterated that the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, communicated no objection to additional funding for completing the balance work of Polavaram Irrigation Project for filling of water up to 41.15 metres, amounting to Rs 10,911.15 crore and Rs 2,000 crore for cost of repairing damages caused to it by flood, subject to the approval of the Cabinet, by modifying its earlier decision.
The proposal of the Government of Andhra Pradesh for ad hoc release of Rs 10,000 crore is subsumed in the above no objection of the Department of Expenditure, he said, while answering a question raised by YSRC MP Balashowry Vallabhaneni on Thursday. He said Polavaram, being a national project, is monitored in meetings held from time to time at different levels in the Government of India, including meetings chaired by the Minister of Jal Shakti.
Elaborating further, he said implementation of Polavaram is being considered in two phases. In this regard, the State government submitted a revised cost estimate for balance works for phase I, i.e., for storage of water up to EL 41.15 m, for Rs 17,144.06 crore. The proposal includes the cost of rehabilitation and resettlement of an additional 16,642 project-affected families of 36 villages, which are to be partially affected in Phase I itself, instead of Phase II as per the earlier plan.
The said proposal is required to be firmed up and approved by the Government of India. Thereafter, the releases are to be processed from time to time as per the approved modalities, depending on the physical and financial progress achieved on PIP by the implementing agency, the State government.
He maintained that the Centre has been reimbursing, from time to time, the expenditure incurred by the State government on the project with effect from April 1, 2014. The reimbursement is done upon receipt of verified bills and recommendations from the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and Central Water Commission (CWC). Since April 1, 2014, up to May 2023, an amount of Rs 14,969.36 crore has been reimbursed to the State government at the 2013-14 price level, he said.