The Hindu 03.05.2013
Cash-strapped VMC pins hopes on Hudco, State
‘Rs. 152 crore needed to close all JNNURM projects’
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is pinning a lot of
hopes on professional tax, Hudco loan of Rs.75 crore, and State
government loan of Rs.57 crore to improve its financial health.
The
authorities also hope that the VMC will have a “respite” if the Union
Bank of India loan is cleared and the JNNURM projects are closed.
Addressing
a press conference here on Thursday, Municipal Commissioner G.S. Panda
Das said the VMC required Rs.152 crore to “close all the JNNURM
projects” by March 2014. Of this, Rs.75 crore would be Hudco loan and
Rs.57 crore State government loan. The balance of Rs.20 crore would have
to be pooled by the corporation from other sources, he said.
The
VMC was expecting a revenue of Rs.10 crore to Rs.15 crore from the UGD
and water connections this year. The professional tax would fetch Rs.27
crore. The corporation was hiring the services of a retired Commercial
Tax officer to improve the professional tax collection.
UBI loan
The
UBI loan would be cleared in another one and half years. At present,
the VMC was shelling out Rs. 2.47 crore per quarter towards UBI loan.
The collection of beneficiary contribution was also improving. The VMC
could collect Rs.3.8 crore in last three months. The beneficiaries were
asked to pay their contribution in lump sum for allotting the houses
under the JNNURM, he said.
The JNNURM projects,
hitherto, had an effect on the general funds. The closure would ease the
burden on general funds and help in streamlining the statutory
payments/liabilities such as ESI and EPF, he hoped.