GHMC to raise Rs.300 crore via municipal bonds

The GHMC will raise Rs 300 crore through municipal bonds for the Strategic Road Development Plan on August 13. Officials said due to the delay in raising money through bonds, the corporation had spent Rs 200 crore from the general fund.

This would take a toll on regular maintenance work like road repairs, streetlights and sanitation. With Rs 30 crore bills pending, SRDP is already moving slowly.

The SRDP is a self-financed project of the GHMC and relies on loans from external sources.

The target was to borrow Rs 1,000 crore and the GHMC has taken



loans of Rs 395 crore in two tranches — Rs 200 crore in 2018 at 8.9 per cent interest and Rs 195 crore this year at 9.38 per cent interest rate.

A senior GHMC official said officers would visit Mumbai to raise the Rs 300-crore loan, which will take the total borrowings to Rs 695 crore. The official said the loans may carry higher interest rate but the Centre’s incentive of Rs 26 crore would compensate for it.

He said the funds would be used for the SRDP and bills would cleared on  a regular basis till October.