Hyderabad: The finances of the urban local bodies (ULBs) and urban development authorities are expected to improve with the Centre proposing in the Union Budget that cities that raise municipal bonds worth over Rs.1,000 crore will receive a Rs.100-crore incentive, helping them fund major projects faster. Smaller towns will continue to get support through the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) for bonds up to Rs.200 crore, enabling them to improve local roads, parks, water supply, and other essential services.“After the municipal elections, raising bonds will be the priority. Municipal commissioners (MCs) will chalk out plans for the proposed works. The funds raised through bonds will be used only for infrastructure development,” said an official from the municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department.“We will also reach out to financial experts and agencies like CRISIL, ICRA, and CARE so that we meet the criteria and make sure our ULBs get AAA and AA ratings and have high credit worthiness,” he added. The HMDA that has proposed to raise Rs.2,144 crore has decided to mobilise another Rs.2,000 crore in the next five months. Earlier, there have been instances in the ULBs on the city outskirts where even replacing streetlights was difficult due to Budget constraints, and cleaning sewage overflow took days. Such things may change if the proposals come through.
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