Special Package Waves Green Flag to Metro Projects

The State government is pushing the burden of Vishakapatnam and Vijayawada Metro Rail Projects on to the Central government, thanks to the Special Package offered to the state. The state and central governments have 20% each equity in both the projects and the external aid component on both the projects is over Rs 10,000 crore.

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It is known that the Finance Ministry had agreed to bear 90% of the Externally Aided Projects of the state for the next five years under the Special Package. These projects are to be covered under special package now. 90 percent of the loan taken from an external agency will be paid back by the GOI and only the remaining 10 percent is expected to be paid by the State government.

As of now, the State government has already released 300 crores for the land acquisition needed for Vijayawada Metro‘s first corridor. The Special Package will come handy for the cash-strapped state to execute both these projects on a war footing. On the other side, the center will very soon give the legal sanctity to the proposed project.