Development projects will take a big hit

With only Rs 50 crore allocated for the Commonwealth Games in the Union Budget for 2010-2011, the Delhi government will cut down substantially on its spending on other development projects in the next fiscal.

Senior Delhi government officials said the government had utilised hundreds of crores meant for other development projects to create infrastructure keeping in mind the Commonwealth Games.

The officials said there is no option but to cut down on public spending.

Delhi government had recently asked the Centre for Rs 2,000 crore to offset its expenditures.

In the last budget too, Delhi received Rs 2,000 crore to develop infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games.

But Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit didn’t seem perturbed. She said less allocation for the Games is primarily because most of the infrastructure projects are either complete or will be ready soon.

“Whatever money we had required for the construction has already been given to us,” Dikshit said.

Despite the Centre’s cold shoulder, Delhi finance minister Dr A.K. Walia said there will be no let up in the execution of Games projects.

The central government has allocated an additional

Rs 903.63 crore under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to the state to upgrade city’s infrastructure.

The money, said Walia, is a part funding of 35 per cent central government’s assistance to take up projects worth Rs 9,821 crore sanctioned under the scheme.

However, officials feel that bigger allocation to the state would have helped in improving Delhi’s financial health.

Rs 50 crore jolt

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee delivered a rude shock to Delhi government, hosting the Commonwealth Games in October this year.

Mukherjee cut the budgetary allocation for Commonwealth Games — the biggest non-cricket sporting event India will host since the 1982 Asian Games — by 34 per cent in the Budget 2010-11 from what he had allotted in Budget 2009. In last year’s outlay, the finance minister earmarked Rs 3,463 crore for the Games. This year the allocation is Rs 2,296.4 crore.

Of this amount, Delhi, which had made a demand for Rs 1,000 crore, was handed out just Rs 50 crore. In the 2009-2010 Budget, Delhi had got a whopping Rs 2,000 crore for completing the games related infrastructure projects. Till date, the Delhi government has spent Rs 7,000 crore in preparations for the mega sports event.

The biggest beneficiary this year is the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, which has been allocated Rs 2,069.52 crore for renovation of stadiums, preparation of teams, upgradation/creation of venues and purchasing equipment and furnishings for stadiums. The Union Urban Development Ministry will get Rs 176.9 crore.

The Delhi government is disappointed with the meagre allocation of funds. “We will write to the Planning Commission for more funds. But we can’t let games preparations suffer,” Delhi Finance Minister Dr AK Walia said.

“The Rs 50-crore allocation means we will have to curtail funds from other sectors such as health and education and divert the money to complete games related projects. Cost overruns of almost all the projects related to the games have already put an enormous burden on our exchequer,” Walia added.

“Construction work on all the Games projects is already underway. We can’t stop midway because of fund crunch.”

Poor planning on the part of the implementing agencies has resulted in many Games projects overshooting the original budgetary estimates and causing delays. The Delhi government had cited paucity of funds for the delay in several infrastructure projects.

Union Sports Minister MS Gill, on the other hand, said, “I am very happy that the finance minister consistently supported us for the sports and Commonwealth Games. I am fully funded.”

Centre hammers down Delhi Games pitch

A month before it presents its own budget, the Sheila Dikshit government received a jolt on Friday with the allocation for Games-bound Delhi in the Union Budget seeing a sharp dip over last year — from a high of Rs 2487.53 crore last year to Rs 1283.70 crore.

At a time when Delhi government is struggling to find funds for Commonwealth Games to be held in October, a paltry sum of Rs 50 crore — as against the demand of Rs 2,000 crore — has been allocated for CWG projects. Last year, Rs 1000 crore was given as special grant for Games. Though the grant under JNNURM has increased to Rs 903.63 crore from Rs 153.91 crore, it doesn’t mean that the fund can be channelised to all Games-related projects covered under JNNURM, said sources. A senior government official said: ‘‘Last year, JNNURM funds were used for Games works because most of the urban mission projects were to start from 2011. Not anymore, as we will have to divert funds for projects slated to start next year.’’

Facing a fund crunch, the government, sources say, will now have to maintain a tighter grip on its purse to be able to survive and walk into 2011-12. Speaking to Times City, Delhi finance minister A K Walia refrained from commenting on the size of the allocation and simply said that earlier the central assistance was always in the range of Rs 700 crore and only last year the state got sizeable assistance from the Centre in view of the Games.

Claiming that the Central assistance will be just enough to sail through the Games, the government admitted that the pressure for generating revenue will be much more. On being asked whether there would be more pressure on the common man in the form of fresh taxes or cut in subsidies in the Delhi budget, Walia refused to comment. But government sources admitted that there are indications that the government, already reeling under the impact of inflation and a financial crunch, may have to resort to measures to enhance its kitty.

Walia added that despite reduction in special grant, there will be no let-up in execution of Games projects. ‘‘The city government will continue to strive hard to utilize its own resources because the Games are linked to the pride of the country. However, the city government will continue to request for allocation of more funds from the Planning Commission for this purpose,’’ he said.
Nodded Rakesh Mehta, chief secretary of Delhi, ‘‘The funds will need to be made available as many projects like the Barapullah Nallah are heading towards completion.’’

Weatherman to get his own TV channel

The weatherman may finally get it right. With the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) getting an allocation of Rs 156 crore for 2010-11, its special projects have received a boost.

The amount is meant specifically for three projects — seismic hazard and risk evaluation, Commonwealth Games and a dedicated weather channel. Officials say that Rs 50 crore meant for the Games project has already been allocated and the amount sanctioned in the new budget would have to be sub-allocated to the other two projects.

The Games project, that is being implemented along with Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), is already underway. A set of highly sophisticated equipment is being installed at all Games venues and at the Games Village to provide weather forecast for a period between an hour and five days. ‘‘The Metropolitan Weather Information and Forecast System for the NCR and Commonwealth Games 2010 is going to be a permanent project. At least 70 automatic weather stations will provide accurate information to organisers, athletes and spectators,’’ said Ajit Tyagi, DG, IMD.

While the Central weather forecasting office will be based at Lodhi Road, Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium and Games Village will also have one centre each.

On the other hand, the IITM is in the process of setting up 10 monitoring stations to predict air quality status in a 50-km radius around the Games Village. The stations will generate data for a 4km-by-4km area a day in advance. These stations will record level of pollutants in the air and also generate data based on weather conditions to indicate how weather patterns and emission sources will affect the air quality at a particular point during the Games.

The second project for which funds have been sanctioned is the microzonation of Delhi to indicate impact of earthquakes in various parts of the city. ‘‘Delhi is located on a faultline and is susceptible to earthquakes. The department is in the process of carrying out a study to assess the impact of an earthquake on each area of 1sqkm. We are hoping to complete the study by the year-end and then carry out the study in 30 more cities,’’ said Tyagi.

The third project is a dedicated television channel that will relay information and news related specifically to weather. Officials said that work on this is also underway and various components of the work were being finalised.

Rohini heliport plan takes off with Rs 40cr

The capital is all set to get its first heliport — a dedicated airport for choppers — in time for the Commonwealth Games in October. Budget 2010-11 makes a provision of Rs 40 crore for Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd (PHHL) to build the heliport in Rohini along with a chopper training facility in Pune. This comes on the heels of Rs 10 crore that was provided for the Rohini facility last Budget.

Pawan Hans acquired 25 acres in Rohini from DDA for Rs 19.7 crore last year. The chopper major has got the feasibility report prepared from RITES for the Rs 63-crore project and is now awaiting Planning Commission approval for it.

‘‘The government has been very supportive and the Rohini heliport and a helipad at the Games Village, for which NBCC has done a preliminary study, will be ready on time. The heliport in Delhi will provide a big boost to helicopter movement,’’ PHHL chairman R K Tyagi said. PHHL has got 10,000 sqm in the Games Village for the helipad. This ‘green’ helipad — which can be removed without leaving any trace — would come up on the ecologically-sensitive site on the Yamuna flood plain.

To meet the increased demand PHHL, which has a fleet of 35 choppers and operates eight more owned by other agencies, is going to acquire 10 more flying machines at the cost of Rs 500 crore this year. While Delhi is getting infrastructure for the 10-day mega event, the heliport promises to improve the capital’s connectivity with the hinterland and will be critical during medical emergencies or disaster relief operations.

To facilitate chopper movement, DGCA recently approved separate air corridors in Delhi and Mumbai.

This will allow choppers to fly independent of aircraft movement. Currently, at IGI Airport greater priority is given to bigger commercial planes instead of choppers (except those used by VVIPs) and the latter have to wait long to take off.

As Metro Phase II draws to a close, eyes on new lines

As Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) races to complete all its under-construction lines before the Commonwealth Games this year, it has been allocated Rs 2,780 crore in the Budget. Of this, Rs 650 crore is equity and Rs 2,130 crore will come as part of the loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The money will be used to fund Delhi Metro’s ongoing 128km-long Phase II.

The outlay for 2010-11 is less than Rs 3,552.2 crore granted last year. But this, officials say, is because the project is nearing completion. ‘‘Phase II construction is about 82% complete and about 72% of the total estimate of Rs 19,131 crore has been already been paid. The allocated amount is adequate for DMRC at present, and if additional funding is required it can be procured through the revised estimates and supplementary grants later in the year,’’ said Kumar Keshav, director (projects), DMRC. Unlike the previous Budget, there is no allocation under the head of subordinate debt this year as no new lines have been planned and the land acquisition for existing lines was accounted for in the past budgets.

Till March 31, DMRC has a sum of Rs 10,166.9 crore, which includes the JICA loan received through the Centre. To fund the phase, 49.16% of the amount is sourced through the JICA loan from Japan, 20.72% through equities from Centre, another 20.72% through equities from Delhi government, 6.67% via subordinate debt (towards cost of land), 2.01% from property development and 0.72% from miscellaneous grants (for Noida/Gurgaon lines).

This year’s allocation doesn’t include any money for Delhi Metro’s Phase III as it is yet to be approved by Delhi government. DMRC is in the final stages of preparing Detailed Project Reports for the new Metro lines proposed as part of Phase III, which will be spread across 112 km.

Finance Ministery grants Rs Rs 2,296.43 for CWG

Bogged down by controversies and delayed preparations, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) received a major boost today with the Finance Ministry allocating Rs 2,296.43 crore for the multi-sports event in the budget under several heads.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee allocated the amount to various departments with a view to improve perk up the sagging preparations. The Sports Ministry got the lion's share of the moolah, bagging Rs 2,069.52 crore. Out of this, the CWG Organising Committee got Rs 1175.54 crore. The Sport Authority of India (SAI) and other sports organisations got Rs 377.92 crore for upgradation of the various stadia, the Union Urban Development Ministry got Rs 176.90 crore and the Delhi government Rs 50 crore.

The Delhi Police also got a share with the finance ministry giving the men in Khaki Rs one lakh for paying bandwidth charges for an integrated security solutions.

However, the athletes, who should be the main focus, were allocated a comparatively meagre amount of Rs 378 crore.

Guyana expresses confidence in India's ability to conduct the Games efficiently and achieve high standards

His Excellency The President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo and Honorable Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony in their speech expressed confidence in India's ability to conduct the Games efficiently and achieve high standards in every aspect. The Indian High Commission assured the gathering about the satisfactory progress of constructions as well as India's ability to conduct the Games with complete security to all delegates and visitors.

Earlier, the Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi arrived in Geargetown, Guyana from Trinidad. It was received at the airport by the President of the Guyana Olympic Association and his team. The Queen's Baton 2010 Delhi was driven under police escort to the hotel.

In the evening a reception was hosted by the Indian High Commission where H.E. the President of Guyana made a brief appearance. The Indian High Commissioner Mr Subit Mandal assured the gathering about the satisfactory progress of constructions as well as India's ability to conduct the Games with complete security to all delegates and visitors.

The Cooperative Republic of Guyana is baton’s only destination in mainland South America.