Congress MP demands funds for Polavaram project

Visakhapatnam, Aug 14: Congress Rajya Sabha MP T Subbarami Reddy today demanded the NDA government release sufficient funds for the Polavaram project and for construction of Andhra Pradesh's new capital city Amaravati.

Reddy said he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting for grants for the Polavaram project.

He told reporters that under Section 90(1) of the AP Reorganisation Act, the Polavaram project had been declared as a national project to compensate for the loss incurred by AP to some extent due to bifurcation.

"Under Section 90(2) of the Act, the Centre was mandated to take under its control the regulation and development of the Polavaram project. As on date the project cost was about Rs 16,000 crore and if it was to be completed in time, Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore had to be provided by the Union government every year in the Budget," he added.

As per the MP, only Rs 850 crore had been disbursed by the Centre till June 2016 whereas the state government had already spent Rs 1,804 crore.

He further claimed that under section 46 (3) of the AP Reorganisation Act, the Centre was supposed to give grants and ensure adequate benefits and incentives in the form of special development packages to backward districts of AP.

PTI