AP to stand guarantee to Rs 4,451-crHUDCO loan for TIDCO houses
The Cabinet was briefed about the outcome of the discussions held at the annual session of World Economic Forum at Davos
image for illustrative purpose
Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Wednesday decided to stand for government guarantee for a loan of Rs4,451 crore from HUDCO for the AP Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APTIDCO) to speed up completion of housing projects for the poor.
The Cabinet, which met at the Velagapudi Secretariat under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu felt that additional funds need to be mobilised immediately to complete the construction of the flats and deliver it to the beneficiaries as promised at the time of general elections. The construction was paused during the previous regime.
Unofficial estimates say to complete most of the pending housing projects numbering 163, APTIDCO needs over Rs6,000 crore as the original project cost has escalated due to inordinate delay.
In all, 35 agenda items came up for discussion. The Cabinet was briefed about the outcome of the discussions held at the annual session of World Economic Forum at Davos and the progress in promoting Brand Andhra Pradesh and commitments to attract investments of over Rs.2.5 lakh crore.
Notably, the recent submission of chargesheet by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the adulteration in the ghee used for preparation of world famous Tirumala laddus figured at the Cabinet meeting. The Chief Minister asked the political representatives to effectively counter the false narrative being spread by the YSRCP on the scam.
The SIT reportedly confirmed that out of 48.76 crore laddus sold during the previous regime, 20.1 crore were prepared by using toxic ghee. It named 36 people which included officials from TTD, dairies and vendors in the entire scam. As much as 68 lakh kg of adulterated ghee using 80 per cent of chemicals, vegetable oil and palmolein contaminants were allegedly sold to dupe the devotees as well as devasthanam authorities.
One of the major decisions cleared by the Council of Ministers was to give a stamp of approval to develop the Piduguralla Medical College under PPP mode notwithstanding stiff opposition by YSRCP to abandon privatisation of medical colleges.
For the first time, the Cabinet gave green signal to allotment of site and approvals to the Tourism Department to develop a five star hotel, resorts and a convention centre at Nandikota near Ananthagiri in Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district, about 100 km from Visakhapatnam. Under Regulation 1 of 70, which prevents transfer of land to private individuals in the scheduled areas as per the Samata judgement delivered by the Supreme Court.
The LoI issued to M&S Garden Realty Private Ltd for Shilparamam projects in Tirupati and Visakhapatnam.A cultural center and entertainment zone will be developed under PPP mode at Shilparamam in Guntur district. For establishing a livestock research station at Palamaner, 33 acres under the limits of Sri Venkateswara University will be allotted.
During the discussion on capital city development work, it was decided to sanction pensions to the poor and orphans in Amaravati area and give alternative sites to the land-losers, who were offered plots in flood-vulnerable areas. The dates for convening of budget session of the Assembly was also discussed.
