PANAJI
A cash-strapped Goa government has approached the Centre hoping that it will bail it out for two of its flagship projects -- the third Mandovi Bridge as well as the Saligao mixed waste treatment plant. Both the proposals, have however, been ignored
In a meeting with the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Goa’s Chief Secretary R K Srivastava sought a reimbursement of the cost of the third Mandovi Bridge to the tune of ₹540 crore as well as the reimbursement of the Saligao Solid Waste treatment plant and funding for two additional similar plants in Goa.
The government had also sought ₹70-crore for organising the BRICS summit in Goa besides funds for its sewerage network in seven towns and 24x7 water connectivity in the State.
However, Joint Secretary in the PMO Debashree Mukherjee in a telephonic conversation with the Chief Secretary on September 14 informed that the Prime Minister’s Office had only agreed to release ₹70-crore for upgradation of sewerage infrastructure and for carrying out other security related works in the context of BRICS-2016 with no mention of the money sought for the infrastructure facilities.
Goa had sought ₹70 crore only for BRICS and separate funds for the sewerage project.
The third bridge across River Mandovi is likely to cost the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) Rs 866.44 crore, almost double the figure of Rs 470 crore quoted liberally so far by the authorities.
However, perusal of the loan repayment schedule shows that GSIDC has to pay back the principal amount along with total interest at 10.5 per cent per annum and the probable interest cost on the principal amount will be in the range of ₹350.00 crore to ₹360.00 crore approx. The total amount to be repaid NABARD by the end of June 2027, therefore, stands at the staggering figure of more than ₹850 crore making it Goa’s costliest bridge.
The sewerage project too will come at a cost of over ₹300 crore with the government having to pay the private player in installments over the next few years.
Other demands such as the reimbursement of ₹86 crore as compensation towards Central Service Tax had earlier been rejected by the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance had assured that it would depute a team to study the GSDP facts of Goa and would work out correct figures for net borrowing limit set for the State.
Earlier, the Chief Secretary had sought correction in the borrowing limit for the state saying that the Centre had erred in calculating the GSDP. He had also pointed out that the claims to CST for the years 2007-10 were rejected by the Ministry of Finance and needed to be compensated. Other demands like the ₹300 crore for connectivity between Mopa and NH-17 were partly allowed in the form of the PMO informing that the project would be covered under the National Highway Development Programme.
