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Financial Management

Govt nod to civic body to raise Rs 276-cr loan

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:16 administrator
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Indian Express 17.11.2009

Govt nod to civic body to raise Rs 276-cr loan

With the state government on Monday allowing the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to raise a Rs 276-crore loan from any bank, the cash-strapped civic administration expressed relief as it has a number of development projects lined up.

“The state government has given its sanction for the PMC proposal and we would soon call for expression of interest,” a senior civic officer said.

The civic body has been facing financial crunch as the budgetary allocation has been used for paying for the work carried out under JNNURM, he said. “The delay in sanction of funds from the state government for JNNURM projects had created problems and also the recession had affected revenue collection of the civic body.”

Despite resistance from the Opposition party, the PMC general body meeting held in June 2009 managed to approve the proposal of the civic administration to seek Rs 276 crore loan for development works and seeking state government permission.

The Opposition had alleged that there was mismanagement of the finances of the PMC and the loan was to mitigate the crisis and not for the development works.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 11:18
 

Kolar CMC has to pay Rs 16.36 lakh library cess

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 05:26 administrator
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Deccan Herald 17.11.2009

Kolar CMC has to pay Rs 16.36 lakh library cess
K Narasimhamurthy, Kolar, Nov 16, DHNS

The Kolar CMC has to pay a library cess amounting to Rs 16.36 lakh to the District Central Library in the past three years. Similarly, the other TMCs in the district too have not paid their library cess running to lakhs!

 

 

Thus, the District Central Library is in a fix, as it needs to buy books from the money collected by the local administrative bodies. In addition to this, there is shortage of staff and the taluk libraries do not have the required infrastructure to function. The Kolar CMC had to pay Rs 2.57 lakh in 2006-07, Rs 4.50 lakh in 2007-08 and Rs 9.2 lakh in 2008-09 in total amounting to Rs 16,36,952, to the District Central Library.

However, no action seems to have been taken in this regard, despite several letters being written to the officials concerned.

‘The CMC is neglecting the payment of library cess. Now, another letter will be dispatched through the Deputy Commissioner,’ said the Chief Librarian P Vishwanath.

It is not only the CMC, even the TMCs have not paid the library cess for the past three years. In total, Bangarpet TMC has to pay Rs 1.51 lakh, Malur TMC Rs 1.79 lakh and Mulbagal TMC has to pay up Rs 11,849 lakh, added the chief librarian.

If the local bodies pay the library cess regularly, the libraries would not have to face any problem. However, the bodies, which are supposed to collect the cess are utilising it for other activities. Due to the precedent set by a few TMCs and CMC the functioning of the library is hindered. Due to the non-payment of cess, the library is unable to buy books mentioned by the State Library Authority, he added.

  
  
 

PCMC panel okays proposal for Rs 210 cr loan from WB

Wednesday, 11 November 2009 08:02 administrator
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The Times of India 11.11.2009

PCMC panel okays proposal for Rs 210 cr loan from WB

TNN 11 November 2009, 05:09am IST

PUNE: The standing committee of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Tuesday approved the modified proposal of the civic administration to take a loan of Rs 210 crore from the World Bank.

Municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma said, "The general body of PCMC has given permission to the administration to take a loan of Rs 400 crore for developmental projects. But the PCMC needs a loan of Rs 210 crore only. So we sent a new proposal to the standing committee."

Sharma said, "The loan will be used to implement the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) projects and to construct flyovers. We will also create an intelligent transport system for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Global positioning system (GPS) will be installed on all PMPML buses so that we will be able to know the location of any bus and inform the commuters when it will reach a particular spot."

Sharma said the World Bank would give Rs 10 crore out of the Rs 210 crore as grant. "The repayment period of the loan is 30 years. There is a moratorium on repayment for first five years. We need the funds to complete all projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission by 2012. We will be able to repay the loan before 2015 as the JNNURM projects will be completed by then."

Sharma added that a consultant would be appointed for the project to remove electricity cables and towers on the Aundh-Ravet road to facilitate widening of the road.

The PCMC will pay Rs 5 lakh to the Indian Institute of Urban Transport to organise an annual exhibition-cum-conference in Delhi on JNNURM, Sharma said.

Meanwhile, standing committee chairman Dnyaneshwar Bhalerao said that the committee has approved a proposal for appointing a consultant for the Aundh-Ravet road work.

 
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