CHANDIGARH : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Monday said that the centre government had sanctioned Rs.3000 crore for the development of Amritsar city and Rs.2000 crore for Ludhiana Municipal Corporation under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and the Punjab Government would have to contribute 20% i.e. Rs.1000 crore over the next five years. 

Presiding over a meeting to review the projects under Municipal Development Fund (MDF) to provide 100% water supply and sewerage facility in all the towns of the state,  Badal said that likewise, under the urban infrastructure development in small and medium towns, centre would give 80% of the funds and 10% had to be arranged by the state government and 10% by the concerned municipalities.   It was proposed to cover Municipal corporations of Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda and all the district headquarters besides major towns like Mandi Gobindgarh, Khanna, Kotakpura and Nangal under this programme.  
          
Keeping in view the precarious financial position of the state, the Chief Minister asked the Local Government Department to make efforts to raise its own resources. He informed that the land available with all the municipal committees/corporations and improvement trusts should be exploited for arranging resources to meet the requirements of the state share under the central government scheme.   He advised that a list of property and shops of all municipal committees/corporations and improvement trusts should be got prepared within a week.  A detailed plan should be drawn up for exploiting the land for putting up commercial establishments including malls etc. for which consultants may be appointed to seek their expertise.

Briefing the Chief Minister, Local Government Minister Manoranjan Kalia said that the budgetary support to the department should be ensured and informed that the share of resources for urban local bodies under the state finance commission which works out to be 1.3% of the total collections of the taxes in the state should be released in time.  He pointed out that last year out of Rs.119 crore which was due only Rs.25 crore was released.   He requested that this year Rs.119 crore would be due and same should be released from time to time.  Moreover sufficient funds should be released this year for the Punjab Municipal Fund in lieu of abolition of octroi.   Kalia stated that Rs.550 crore was due as per the Punjab Municipal Fund Act, 2006 and this amount was required for the payment of salaries to the municipal employees.   Kalia also informed the Chief Minister that he had recently held a meeting with the Infrastructure, Finances and Leasing Services (IFLS) which made a presentation to him about the possible methods for raising resources to set up Punjab Municipal Development Fund.  

Former Chairman of the Punjab National Bank SS Kohli and the present Chairman of Indian Infrastructure Finance Corporation Ltd. (IIFCL) told him that this GOI corporation was in a position to lend upto Rs.3000 crore for creating municipal infrastructure in India.  Already states like Karnatka, Tamil Naidu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan had withdrawn large some from the Pooled Municipal Debt Obligation Fund and he suggested the efforts should be made to raise sufficient resources for Punjab.  Kalia also stated that the Union Finance Minister had announced a proposal to set up the municipal development bonds and he urged that Punjab should avail of this facility as these were tax free bonds and quite attractive.    In this way resources from all over the country could flow in for development of Punjab Municipal Bodies', he added.  

Appreciating the proposal to set up Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund, Badal agreed in principle and suggested that a detailed proposal should be put up before a committee under the chairmanship of State Chief Secretary.  The other members of the committee would be Principal Secretary Finance, Principal Secretary Local Government and the Managing Director Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board.   The committee would make its recommendations with in a week. Badal also asked the Local Government Minister that the MoU for Ludhiana should be finalized immediately and its detailed project report should be drawn up quickly.  It was also decided to appoint ILFS as the consultant as they were already working with the PIDB and were aware of Punjab Government commitments to infrastructure development.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Local Government DS Bains, MD Punjab Water Supply & Sewerage Board Pardeep Chaudhri, Yogesh Goel Chairman and Bikraminderjit Singh Member Secretary Punjab Pollution Control Board.