CHENNAI: Housing and Urban Development Minister B Rajkumar told the Assembly on Friday that the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), which had remained largely self-sustaining for decades, took up projects and made financial commitments totalling Rs 6,945.8 crore over the last five years, forcing it to borrow funds for the first time to meet its obligations.
The authority has also availed itself of a Rs 200-crore Ways and Means Advance to meet immediate financial requirements, the minister said.During the last five years, the CMDA took up 201 infrastructure projects worth Rs 3,755.5 crore. Of this, projects worth Rs 1,547.8 crore were taken up by the Housing and Urban Development Department, while Rs 2,207.7 crore worth of works were undertaken for other departments. In addition, CMDA provided Rs 882.5 crore to other departments under Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam, committed Rs 201 crore for works undertaken by the Chennai Metro Rail and Rs 2,106.6 crore for Outer Ring Road-related works.
Rajkumar said the rising project requirements and commitments had placed CMDA in a difficult financial position. The change was particularly pronounced from 2023-24, he said.
At the beginning of 2021-22, CMDA had Rs 2,258.5 crore in its Planning and Development Fund. That year, it recorded revenue of Rs 389.8 crore against expenditure of Rs 258.9 crore, leaving a surplus of Rs 130.8 crore. It also earned Rs 185.6 crore as interest income from deposits.
DMK MLA P K Sekarbabu, who was CMDA chairperson during the previous regime, said the authority collected various charges from the public and that the projects taken up using its funds were implemented for public benefit.
