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Financial Management

PCMC to get Rs 210 cr loan from WB

Tuesday, 03 November 2009 09:59 administrator
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The Times of India 03.11.2009

PCMC to get Rs 210 cr loan from WB

TNN 3 November 2009, 07:19am IST

PUNE: The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is the first municipal corporation in the country to receive a loan under sustainable urban transport project (SUTP) from the World Bank (WB). The Rs 210-crore loan will be used for completion of flyovers and other development projects.

Speaking to TOI on Monday, PCMC commissioner Ashish Sharma said, "Various cities, including Pune, Jalandhar, Indore and Mysore, have applied to the WB for loans for their respective development projects. Sharma said the WB was ready to give a loan of Rs 370 crore to the PCMC. "But, after strict financial control for the past five months, we at the PCMC realised that such a huge loan was not required. We need only Rs 210 crore, the period of repayment for which is 30 years," Sharma said.

According to Sharma, negotiations for the loan began in 2006. "Ours is the first city to get the loan. We cleared all the four stages of the loan process, while the other cities are still to clear the first stage," he said.

"The PCMC will appoint a consultant to prepare the conditions of the tenders. We will need WB's approval for the tender format. Bids for the projects will be invited by the end of November and the work is expected to begin by the end of December," Sharma said.

The project works include three flyovers at Nashik Phata chowk, near Empire Estate in Chinchwad and at Dange chowk in Thergaon. The cost of the Nashik Phata flyover is Rs 93 crore, while the one near Empire Estate will cost Rs 60 crore The PCMC will also develop an intelligent transport system for Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML). This system will cover both Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas," he said.

Elaborating on the loan process, Sharma said all applications to the WB have to pass through four stages. The first stage includes finalising the project components. In the second stage, a detailed project report has to be prepared. In the third stage, the design has to be approved. Social and environmental assessment reports have to be prepared and approval has to be received for them. The next part involves preparation of the tender documents. After all the documents are approved by the WB, bids are invited for the projects. The contracts are awarded after scrutiny of the bids.

 

AMC general budget money for walled city civic issues

Saturday, 26 September 2009 06:43 administrator
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The Times of India 26.09.2009

AMC general budget money for walled city civic issues

TNN 26 September 2009, 03:42am IST

AHMEDABAD: Now, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will spend money from general budget to address civic issues of economically weaker sections, especially those who stay in the pols, chawls and housing societies of the walled city.

This decision was taken during AMC's standing committee meeting on Friday. Earlier, most of the civic work, including roads, lighting, drainage and water issues was done under funds of respective municipal corporators, MLAs and MPs.

Congress corporators, however, alleged that AMC had not been doing anything new. Committee member and Congress corporator, Hassan Lala said, "The circular was in place during the tenure of Congress in AMC. BJP-ruled AMC is not addressing the real issue of drainage and drinking water in walled city."

Central zone of AMC, including Khadia, Kalupur, Jamalpur, Raikhad, Madhupura, Dariapur, Shahpur, Girdharnagar, among other areas, have been for facing several civic issues. It has a population of over 10 lakh.
 

VMC revenues improve considerably

Monday, 21 September 2009 02:57 administrator
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The Hindu 21.09.2009

VMC revenues improve considerably

Staff reporter

The collection under property tax head increases to Rs. 18.36 cores

 

The collections on water meters also improves and touches Rs. 1.40 crores

Officials admit shortfall in vacant land tax collection

VIJAYAWADA: The revenue collections of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) seem to have improved over the previous financial year. The collections from April 1, 2009, to September 17, 2009, improved under all heads, except the vacant land tax, as compared to the same period the previous year. The collections on account of property tax, water, sewerage, commercial complexes and water meters and under other heads have shown improvement, official sources say.

While the property tax collection was Rs. 14.61 crores the previous year, it increased to Rs. 18.36 crores this year. Similarly, the water tax collection for the same period has gone up by some Rs. 80 lakhs from the previous year’s Rs. 2.14 crores, while sewerage collections touched Rs. 78 lakhs as against Rs. 63.48 lakhs the previous year.

Rent

Likewise, the rent realisation from commercial complexes also improved, with the corporation receiving Rs. 3.17 crores this year as against last year’s Rs. 3.04 crores. The collections on water meters also improved and touched Rs. 1.40 crores as against last year’s Rs. 1.31 crores, the officials say. The special drive taken up by the corporation is apparently yielding the desired results, as the revenue officials could collect Rs. 18.36 crores under property tax, as against the target of Rs.23.51 crores, for the first half of the financial year that ends on September 30. The officials exude confidence that they would be able to collect the remaining Rs. 5.58 crores by the month-end to reach the target.

Disciplining defaulters

The VMC officials have started disconnecting water connections for households that have not been paying the taxes. The officials disconnected as many as 1,264 water connections in Circle-I, 996 in Circle-II and 2,673 in Circle-III. This resulted in defaulters clearing the dues. The officials collected Rs. 12.33 lakhs from all these households as pending dues.

With regard to the vacant land tax, the officials admit the shortfall in collections for various reasons. They say it would take a couple of weeks to achieve the target. They recall that a special drive was conducted in February this year, and as many as 649 new assessments were made then. The total number of new assessments in 2008-09 touched 1,019.

During the special drive, the officials were able to collect Rs. 1.38 crores, while the total VLT collection stood at Rs. 2.5 crores during 2008-2009. The corporation is emphasising on collection of VLT, and the total number of assessments and the revenue realised under the category have been showing a steady increase. From a mere Rs. 50.37 lakhs collected from 1,300 assessments in 2003-04, it went up to Rs. 5 crores from 9,500 assessments in 2007-08, officials say.

Last Updated on Monday, 21 September 2009 02:59
 
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