THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With yet another state Budget around the corner, the capital city is looking for major announcements. Every year, Thiruvananthapuram would have something to cheer about from the annual exercise by the Finance Minister.
But this time, the anticipation is less, as people watching the developments in the city are aware. With the advent of Smart City and AMRUT mega projects, there is no dearth of projects in the city.
Comprehensive plans have already been laid for the next five years for the execution of these projects which have a total outlay of more than Rs 2,000 crore. This includes multi-car parking facilities, foot overbridge, development of Putharikandom ground, centralised waste management system and sewerage system.
The state has agreed to contribute a major share of the project cost on development works which are already prepared and approved.
“The Budget allocation for the city will invariably be in line with the mega development projects,” said a senior officer at the Corporation. “The fund for the current fiscal could be directly under the smart city head or it could be moved to the head later.”
Besides Central schemes, the state government has its own Nava Kerala Mission which seeks to address problems faced in four key social sectors, namely, health, education, agriculture and housing. The targets of these missions are already set and a major allocation is expected in this budget too.
Funding mechanisms, such as KIIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund) initiated by the LDF government, has impacted the surprise element in the budget. Though Finance Minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac used to doll out generous funds for projects during the Budget, its role in promoting off-budget projects on a regular basis has been found to be effective, according to experts. They estimate the dire fiscal condition of the state will not give much legroom for the finance minister to announce generous funds for new projects.
Budgetary allocations to some of the key ongoing projects are also an indication of the government’s priority. The budgets are usually generous when it comes to improving the facilities at Technopark, the Medical College or research organisations.
This time the IT infrastructure at Technocity is expected to get funds. Budgetary support for Light Metro project, which has been facing an inordinate delay mainly due to the Central government’s approach, is being keenly watched. Capital Region Development Programme (CRDP) which involves a 55-km-long outer ring road, skywalks, and film complex at Thiruvallom for conducting international film festivals are some of the major projects awaiting a big budgetary push.
The mega project the City Corporation expects from the budget is the support for a modern abattoir at Kunnukuzhi. Though the initial plan was to build an entirely new abattoir for Rs30 crore, it has now been scaled down to around Rs 10 crore. A detailed project report for the project is likely to be ready within a fortnight.
Awaiting a big push