Centre Releases ₹1,508 Crore Advance Funds for Polavaram Project

The Central Government has released ₹1,508 crore as the third installment of advance funds for the Polavaram Project. Although ₹5,936 crore was allocated for the project in the current budget, the funds were revised to ₹3,017.40 crore as the advance amount provided in the previous financial year was utilized until March of this year.

Since nearly 80 percent of the earlier advance funds have already been spent, the state government requested the Centre, through the Polavaram Project Authority, to release the third installment of advance funds. Responding to this request, the Centre released ₹1,508 crore as advance funding.

However, the Centre has imposed a condition that the remaining funds in the current budget will be released only if the newly sanctioned amount is utilized by March 15. Initially, the Union Finance Ministry proposed releasing the funds through the Sparsh system instead of the Single Nodal Account. After objections from the State Finance Department and Polavaram officials, the Centre finally agreed to release the funds through the earlier Single Nodal Agency system. Out of the sanctioned amount, the State Finance Department has already transferred about ₹500 crore to the Polavaram project account.

Officials stated that around ₹500 crore will be used for construction works, while another ₹500 crore will be allocated for rehabilitation activities. Polavaram authorities have also requested the Centre to approve certain pending bills for works that were earlier reduced.

After the NDA government came to power in the state, the Centre has released a total of ₹7,020 crore for the Polavaram project. During the 2024–25 financial year, ₹5,512.40 crore was provided in two installments as advance funds, and the latest installment of ₹1,508 crore has now been released.

For the next financial year starting April 1, the Centre has allocated ₹3,320 crore in the budget for the project. If the ₹1,500 crore allocated in the 2025–26 Union Budget is not fully utilized, the Centre will still need to release nearly ₹1,800 crore more to complete the first phase of the project.