‘Bangalore deserves more’

‘Bangalore deserves more’

Deccan Herald


Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram gave voice to Bangalore City’s infrastructure woes. “Bangalore is crying for better infrastructure. It needs better roads, water, power, metro rail...” were his words.

He appreciated that in terms of fiscal management, Karnataka was among the top performing states, but noted that ‘Bangalore deserves a much better infrastructure’.

He was speaking here on Friday after releasing the ‘Tax-free municipal bonds’ brought out by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) for part-financing the Greater Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Project.


Terming the concept of such bonds as ‘a unique concept in public-private partnerships’, the union finance minister said it was the correct way to raise resources and be accountable.

Such bonds when listed serve to assess a government on a daily basis, he observed . “The market will punish you for non-performance. People vote through them (markets) everyday”, he told the gathering where Chief Minister Dharam Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were also present.

After presenting the bond certificates to some of the public sector banks on the occasion, Mr Chidambaram hoped that eventually private corporations and individual citizens too would come into play.

The GBWSSP whose tentative estimate is Rs 340.55 crore aims to provide water supply to the eight municipalities surrounding Bangalore City. About Rs 100 crore has been generated by the 15-year tax free bonds issued through a special purpose vehicle - Karnataka Water and Sanitation Pooled Fund Trust. Beneficiary capital contribution is billed as a notable feature of GBWSSP. About Rs 46 crore has been collected under it as of now.

Chief Minister Dharam Singh, took the cue from the finance minister’s statements on Bangalore’s infrastructure and appealed to the Centre to expedite the clearances of Public Investment Board and Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for the Bangalore Metro Rail project.

He also cited the need for the Centre to enhance the allocation for infrastructure development.