AP CM letter to center on Polavaram project

Amaravati, January 22: Andra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has been tenaciously pushing the project forward despite heavy odds, launched works for erection of the first radial gate - the 41st one - at the project site at a high-visibility programme.

Naidu wrote a letter to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday, demanding about the reimburse Rs 3,722 crore spent by the state government on the Polavaram Project to the center.

“I would like to bring to your kind notice that the expenditure incurred on the project after declaration as ‘National Project’ is Rs 10,459.30 crore. Out of this, an amount of Rs 6,727.26 crore only has been reimbursed by the Government of India so far. The last reimbursement received on June 11, 2018. Since then, there is no reimbursement of expenditure already incurred by the state government so far. A balance amount of Rs 3,722.04 crore is to be reimbursed,” the letter by Naidu.

He also informed that the state government has bagged the Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP) award for speedy execution of the Polavaram project, which is a lifeline of Andhra Pradesh.