Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy insists Centre approve revised estimates

Tadepalli: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, here on Saturday reviewed the Polavaram Project status vis a vis the Centre's stand on the total cost of the project. He directed the officials to take up the expenditure issue with the Centre to impress upon it the need to release entire cost including the Relief and Rehabilitation costs totalling to about Rs 54,000 crore.

It was discussed at the meeting that the entire cost of the project which was considered by the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and approved by CWC for Rs 55,448.87 crore at 2017-18 price level and further the Revised Cost Committee (RCC) approved at Rs 47,725.74 crore had been accepted by the Union Ministries of Jal Shakti and Finance.

The Chief Minister emphasised that the cost of the component land acquisition (LA) and R&R itself was around Rs 29,000 crore as approved by PPA, CWC and the Jal Shakti Ministry and hence, capping the entire project cost at Rs. 20,398.61 crs, has no relavance and it was impossible to complete the project with that cost.

The Chief Minister reviewed the latest developments on the reimbursement of balance expenditure incurred by the State government to a tune of Rs. 4013.65 crore, out of which Rs 2234.28 crore was proposed for EBR (Extra Budget Release) by Ministry of Finance (MOF) of Government of India to Ministry of Jal Shakthi (MOJS) which had been stated by the finance ministry, that cost of irrigation component in Revised Cost Estimate shall be construed as approved by Polavaram Project Authority at Rs 20,398.61 crore as on April 1, 2014 which the Ministry of Finance had asked Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) to confirm

The Centre had responded positively in the past and because Polavaram was a national project, entire cost should be borne by the Centre, he said.