Chhattisgarh mulls BFT concept for urban development

Raipur, Mar 22 (UNI) The Chhattisgarh government has decided to set up a fund with Rs 1,000 crore to enable urban local bodies to take up infrastructure projects by adopting alternative modes of payments, which does not involve making instant payment to the contractors.

Urban Development Minister Amar Agrawal told UNI here that the government was all set to introduce Build, Finance and Transfer (BFT) concept or Deferred Payment Scheme (DPS), which enabled urban local bodies to make payments to the contractor in instalments.

Pointing out that construction of roads and bridges besides development of infrastructure for electricity, water supply and traffic management could be taken up by adopting alternative modes of payments, he said the scheme could help solve the difficulty being faced by urban bodies in raising funds.

Elaborating the concept, Mr Agrawal said the payment for the work undertaken by the contractor concerned for a particular work would be made in instalments in 10 years, along with interest.

''Today, we can buy a house, vehicles and even household goods on installment and repay the loan amount through Equated Monthly Installments (EMI),'' he said, adding that the same concept was applied for development of infrastructure projects through the BFT or DPS.

Claiming that the scheme could help attract private investment in the field of infrastructure development, Mr Agrawal said adequate provisions had been incorporated in the rules concerned for implementing the scheme.

He said the pilot projects under BFT concept would be implemented in six cities, including Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur, for which the detailed plan was being worked out.

Stating that projects under BFT and DPS had already been implemented in neighbouring Maharashtra, the minister said there were countries, like the United Kingdom, where the repayment was made in a span of 30 years.

After identifying the projects to be taken up, tenders would be floated at national level inviting contractors and companies for undertaking works under BFT concept, he said, adding that this scheme would help minimise delays in infrastructure project completion due to funds constraint.

UNI AS-JJ LR BS1439