Rs 400 cr released for Polavaram till now: Minister

Visakhapatnam: The central government has released Rs 400 crore to the state government until now for the Polavaram project, said Union minister of state for water resources Sanwar Lal Jat.
Following questions raised by Araku MP Kothapalli Geetha and Srikakulam MP Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu in the Lok Sabha, Sanwar Lal Jat said, "The government of Andhra Pradesh has submitted a claim of reimbursement of Rs 2,218 crore from the Government of India during January 2016."
"A sum of Rs 100 crore has been released to the state government during August 2015.A sum of Rs 300 crore has been released to PPA (Polavaram Project Authority) during February 2016 for releasing to state government after following the procedure for such release," he said. The minister also stated that as per the current phasing of expenditure it is a project to be completed by March 2019.
The monthly progress report on physical and financial aspects is being submitted by the state government to PPA, which started functioning from January 2015 at Hyderabad, the minister said. Also, he stated that state government has been advised that any changes in the physical, financial and contractual conditions in the existing contracts shall be taken up with the approval of PPA. "So far, four meetings of the PPA have been held," the minister said adding that "efforts are being made to complete the project as per schedule".