World Bank Likely to Release Amaravati Funds by December

The World Bank, which has committed $800 million for the development of Amaravati Capital Phase-I, is anticipated to release the second tranche of $200 million by the end of this year, according to a senior official from the Andhra Pradesh government who spoke on Thursday.

Both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to finance $800 million each, amounting to a total of $1.6 billion (Rs 13,600 crore), for the Phase-I development of Amaravati capital city. Furthermore, the Centre will contribute Rs 1,400 crore from the Rs 15,000 crore it has allocated for Phase-I of the project.

In line with its commitment, the World Bank has already disbursed $207 million, of which nearly 50 percent has been utilized for various projects, as stated by S. Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development.

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Approximately Rs 1,800 crore has already been released, and it is estimated that less than 50 percent of this amount has been spent to date. It is expected that the next installment can be claimed before December, which will be of a similar amount, he informed PTI.

Once the state government has utilized 75 percent of the first tranche of the loan ($207 million), it will be eligible to submit the next bill for the World Bank to release the funds.

Both parties will review the records, hold meetings with our teams, including officers from the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA), and conduct field inspections. They also engage with me on a monthly basis, he added.

In a recent project update, the World Bank expressed its satisfaction with the progress of the implementation of the works.