The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is set to get a loan worth Rs350 crore from Gujarat State Finance Corporation (GSFS). The civic body will also be purchasing green project bonds worth Rs200 crore. Both these proposals were approved by the AMC’s sitting committee.
The loan of Rs350 crore from the GSFS will be used for basic purposes like maintenance of roads, sewerage lines, water pipelines and other such functions. The civic body may also use this money to pay salaries and other dues. The loan will be issued for 7 years at a low-interest rate of 0.25%.
Earlier, the AMC had taken a loan of Rs350 crore from GSFS for riverfront development. The civic body has to pay an interest rate of pay 6.75% for this loan. It is believed that the AMC will repay this loan by selling multilevel parking plots and other shops that are under construction at Prahladnagar, Sindhubhan and Riverfront.
AMC has reportedly incurred a loss of more than Rs900 crore during the Covid-19 period. This was mainly because of the non-revenue services the civic body offered during the period. In order to make up for the losses, the state government has given Rs459 crore to the civic body.
