AP Pegs Polavaram Water Project Estimate at Rs 58000 Cr, up From Rs 16000 Cr

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Tuesday that the state had submitted a revised estimate for the Polavaram irrigation project pegging the cost at over Rs 58,000 crore.

The earlier estimate as per 2010-11 price level put the cost at over Rs 16,000 crore, according to an official statement.

Talking to reporters after meeting several Union ministers here, Naidu said the state had sent a revised estimate for the project and that it had been pending with the Central Water Commission.

The revised estimate as per 2013-14 price level put the cost at Rs 58,319 crore, according to the statement.

“It is our dream project and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has also agreed to release project dues of around Rs 2,800 crore to the state at the earliest,” he said.

Polavaram is a national project mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and the Centre has agreed to completely bear expenses incurred after April 1, 2014.

Naidu was on a two-day visit to the national capital. He met Union ministers Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari and Dharmendra Pradhan.

He also requested Jaitley for GST exemption for the state’s fibre grid project, which aims to provide affordable broadband connectivity to every household.

Jaitley and Naidu also released a book — ‘A to Z of Financial Management in Autonomous Institutions’ — authored by Rajat Bhargava and Deenanath Pathak. Naidu had addressed IAS trainees at Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy in Mussoorie on Monday.

PTI