Borrowing limit of APIIC raised to 5000 crore

Hyderabad, Dec 27(KNN) The Andhra Pradesh Government has issued orders authorizing the Board of Directors of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIIC) to hike borrow up to rupees 5,000 crores.

The order was issued to allow borrowing of the said amount from time to time for land acquisition (LA) and for standing as guarantor for a rupees 2,000-crore loan proposed to be taken by it (APIIC) from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).

Of the requirement of Rs.10,645 crore, rupees 2,000 was indicated by the APIIC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director (VC & MD) as an immediate requirement to acquire land for projects committed in the Visakhapatnam district.

The APIIC has targeted to create a land bank of nearly 10 lakh acres and has already identified 108500 acres which cost approximately rupees 10,645 crore. But since the ADB and the JICA funds will not be available for LA and the company (APIIC)’s finances are not enough to acquire land on such a massive scale, it has to mobilize the resources on its own.

The G.O issued on Monday paved the way for the APIIC to proceed with acquisition of land for industries in the Visakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC), Chennai and Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and the Peninsular Region Industrial Development Corridor (PRIDE Corridor) with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The APIIC VC & MD also sought the borrowing limit to be enhanced to rupees5,000 crore from the earlier cap of rupees1,000 crore.

In view of the constraints of the APIIC and the pace at which the industrial parks are to be established, the Government allowed it (APIIC) to go ahead with its fund-raising exercise. (KNN/RAS)