Union Cabinet approved the Polavaram Project

The Union Cabinet on 1 May 2014 approved the proposal for setting up of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA). It will be set up for the execution of the Polavaram irrigation project.

The constitution of the Centrally-funded PPA and its governing body was in accordance with the section 90 of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The project cost originally estimated at 10151 crore rupees rose to 16010 crore rupees.

The Polavaram Project Authority would be an autonomous body under the chairmanship of a Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be appointed by the Centre. CEO will be of the rank of Additional Secretary to Government of India (GoI) with a fixed tenure of three years.

The multipurpose Polavaram project is expected to irrigate 2.91 lakh hectares. It will generate 960 mw of power and supply 23.4 tmc drinking water to Visakhapatnam city and also to Vizag steel plant. It will also facilitate an inter-basin transfer of 80 tmcft annually to the Krishna river basin.

All the assets and liabilities of the Polavaram project will be transferred to the authority and a separate PPA fund would also be created to which the funds released by the Centre will be credited.

The Authority will clear apprehensions about the project and instill confidence in both the successor States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as also other riparian States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and carry out the project in a transparent and equitable manner.

Centre will fund and execute the project and obtain all the requisite clearances including environmental, forests and rehabilitation.