Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh state government has filed an affidavit in the state High Court that it will not be possible to complete the projects undertaken in the capital city and in the region within the court ordered deadline of 6 months.
“Infrastructure such as roads, electricity, drinking water, and sewerage required for the development of the capital city will take at least 5 years to complete,” the government said, in its affidavit. It also requested the High Court to remove the deadline given on March 3 that ordered to develop layouts and distribute plots to farmers in Amaravati in 30 days.
Chief secretary Dr Sameer Sharma filed the affidavit on Saturday in the High Court which told the court that the capital region development is an ongoing process. “We are filing an affidavit to put before the court the reasonable difficulties in enforcing the judgment and the circumstances under which it is not enforceable before using legal alternatives. It is estimated that Rs 42,231 crore will be required to complete the remaining works in the Amaravati region,” the affidavit informed.
“The financial assistance to be provided by the state government under the first phase of the project construction cost is Rs 51,687 crore. Out of this, Rs 1377 crore was given from 2015 to 2019 and Rs 1,646 crore was given during 2020-2022. The government also raised Rs 5,122 crore through Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) loan. It has given guarantees to the CRDA to get a loan of Rs 3,000 crore according to the capital city development master plan. However, the CRDA was unable to raise funds. It will take some time for financial institutions to talk to the central government and overcome the funding shortfall,” the government explained.
The government also explained the centre’s role in capital construction. “According to the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the centre should provide funds for the construction of palaces, High court, secretariats, assemblies, and councils in the capital region. As part of this, the central government provided Rs 1,500 crore between 2014 and 2017. The state government has so far spent Rs 1,632.48 crore on these. It has also given Rs 3,023 crore in grants,” it informed the court.
The government also said that it is in the process of resolving the doubts of the centre. “Expected costs given in the past are likely to rise now. In 2018, the state government wrote a letter to the centre saying that Rs 1.9 lakh crore would be required for the development of the capital region. The state government has prepared Detailed project reports (DPR) and sent an estimate for Rs 62,625 crore. Recently the centre sought clarification on these DPRs. The state government is in the process of resolving the doubts of the central government,” the affidavit said.
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