Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget has not gone down well with the critics, who said it has “nothing concrete” in terms of allocations for the city’s infrastructure.
Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget has not gone down well with the critics, who said it has “nothing concrete” in terms of allocations for the city’s infrastructure.
Terming the budget as “hollow” on its provisions for Mumbai, former Bharatiya Janata Party corporator and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) member Ashish Shelar said while Mumbai accounted for a majority of tax collections, it got little in return.
“There is nothing concrete for the many infrastructure projects, including makeover of the Chhatrapati Shivaji international airport, the proposed Greenfield Navi Mumbai airport, the Metro rail projects and the coastal roads, which did not find any mention in it,” he added.
“Considering the government’s record of not releasing money for viability gap funding (VGF) of even approved projects in past, allocations for city’s infrastructure projects should have been spelt out directly,” Shelar added.
This, even as a senior MMRDA official pointed at the need of VGF for its projects like the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link in the next (2013-14) financial year, as the VGF was disbursed after the equity contribution for the project was used up.
An urban development department official said the state had sought that projects like the MTHL, Navi Mumbai airport, the Colaba-BKC-SEEPZ Metro railway and the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor be designated as national projects for them to get more central funds. For instance, the Centre has already declared the Gosi Khurd irrigation project in Vidarbha as a national project.
However, Congress MP from North Mumbai Sanjay Nirupam denied the charge that the budget had little benefit for the city’s infrastructure projects. “There’s been an overall focus on the infrastructure sector, (it tries to) see how investment is increased and PPP projects are given boost,” he said, adding that allocations for the urban areas would be based on the report of the finance commission.
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