JNNURM expenditure rises in Pune around Rs1,000 crore

The cost of Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal mission (JNNURM) projects implemented by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has shot up by nearly Rs1,000 crore, thereby affecting the civic body’s annual budget.

Of the 14 JNNURM projects being undertaken by the PCMC at a cost of Rs2,601 crore, the outlay of nine has increased and the civic body will now require Rs3,565 crore to complete it.

The increased cost is equivalent to the civic body’s annual budget.
The civic body had launched the Rs2,601-crore JNNURM projects in 2006. For these plans, the Centre would bear 50% of the cost, the state government 20% and PCMC 30%. The deadline to complete all these projects is 2012.

The civic officials said the reason behind the increasing cost was improper planning, including delay in floating tenders and its increased cost. The civic body failed to acquire lands for bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and economically weaker section (EWS) housing projects, causing delay in starting these plans.

It also failed to negotiate with the defence authorities to acquire land for BRTS routes. The JNNURM committee reviews the work every year. The state government had recently expressed concern at the slow pace of JNNURM work in the PCMC area and threatened to complete the work on its own if the civic body fails to meet the deadline.

According to JNNURM records, the PCMC has borrowed Rs100 crore from the World Bank (WB) for the Nashik Phata two-tier flyover project and has already received Rs32 crore in the first phase. The WB has sanctioned Rs210 crore to the PCMC for the BRTS plan.

The civic body is also in the process to take Rs498-crore loan from the Asian Development Bank.