Pandemic’s 2nd spell delaying TN infra projects

The state is currently focussed on health infrastructure and the money is diverted to meet the medical expenses leaving other departments without funds. 

Even the purchase of computers, furniture, stationaryl items for government offices, refabrication works of government offices and restoration of government tourism facilities are put on hold due to poor financial inflow, a senior government official said that the infrastructure projects should now wait for some more months. Tangedco and transport are other major departments that had incured huge loss during lockdown, the official said. 

“Stating that the government had incurred an additional expenditure of Rs 14000 crore for the first corona wave in 2020, this year the expenditure would be more than Rs 20000 expense during COVID second wave, another officer noted stating that overall annual expense of running the health infrastructure would cost more than Rs 25000 crore, but the revenue receipts had drastically slipped in the past two months, “ another official said. 

Several flyover and grade separator projects were mooted for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai municipal corporation, but the local bodies have drained out their funds taking up corona control measures and the tax inflow into the government exchequer had again nosedived in the past two years and the arrears have started piling up for all the local bodies, informed sources said.