PANJIM: The State government has ‘in-principle’ agreed to fund the entire State cum Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) share of Rs 500 crore to implement the Smart City Development Mission proposal for Panjim.
CCP Commissioner Sanjit Rodrigues announced this on Tuesday at a special council meeting stating that CCP financial position does not allow it to take up such a huge proposal. The civic body assured Panjimites that no additional tax burden would be imposed to implement the Smart City Mission.
The CCP council unanimously approved the Rs 1,313 crore smart city proposal (SCP) for Panjim along with resolving that like the JNNURM funding, the State government should bear the entire Rs 500 crore burden on behalf of the council to implement the project.
The CCP resolution will be forwarded to the government and Finance Department for its nod by December 5, while it would be placed before the Union Ministry for Urban Development on December 14, to get Panjim selected in the first phase of 20 smart city proposals.
The council meeting was attended by local MLA Siddharth Kuncolienkar, who on the government’s behalf assured to fund the project. He said that the SCP has been drafted in the interest of Panjim residents and incorporates proposals made by LKS in their Holistic Master Plan for the city.
The funding will include Rs 500 crore each from the Centre and State and the balance Rs 313 crore would be drawn through public private partnerships (PPP) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Rodrigues told council members that it is most likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce the names of the first 20 cities on January 26, next year.
The meeting begun on a chaotic note, with the opposition, including former Mayors Surendra Furtado and Yatin Parekh, questioning whether the government will fund the entire CCP share or they will have to impose an additional tax on citizens to raise Rs 500 crore. They pointed out that CCP is already reeling under a financial crisis and it cannot fund such a huge project.
“The High-Powered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary has in-principle agreed to fund the entire CCP share. If Panjim fails to get selected in the first phase, we can get it in the second or final phase,” Rodrigues said.
