World Bank Mission to review KSTP

A Full Mission of the World Bank is arriving here on April 12 to review the ongoing World Bank-aided Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) even as the Union Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is yet to take a call on extending Phase II till April 2020.

To be led by World Bank task team leader Arnab Bandyopadhyay, the 10-member mission will visit all the 363-km State Highway (SH) corridors spread over 10 packages across the State for personally seeing progress of the projects since September last.

The mission, comprising specialists dealing with environment, social development, highway, bridge, road safety, procurement, etc., will meet the project officials and contractors before preparing the report. It will also meet Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran, Chief Secretary Paul Antony, Public Works Principal Secretary G. Kamalavardhana Rao, KSTP project director Ajith Patil before leaving on April 18.

A breather

“We have said the World Bank does not have any objection to the request to extend the term from April 2019, which came from the State through the DEA,’’ Mr. Bandyopadhyaytold The Hindu. The World Bank’s NOC throws an opportunity to avoid ‘poor performer’ tag and a breather to complete the upgrade of SH.

Mr. Rao , who held talks with the Joint Secretary, DEA, and World Bank representatives Carla Gonsalves and Mr. Bandyopadhyayin Delhi last month, said the State will have to give an undertaking that it will not further seek extension for Phase II.

Only 36% of the loan share of $216 million had been availed since May 2013 when the Phase II works were kicked off under the previous UDF tenure. Now, the State will get time to avail itself of the undisbursed share of $137.48 million.

Mr. Rao said the challenge was to complete the 82.13-km Punalur-Ponkunnam road that is still on paper as Engineering Procurement Construction mode as the private-public-partnership on design, build, finance, operate, maintain, and transfer mode under the hybrid annuity basis did not succeed.

The DPR is prepared by L&T and the aim is to tender works worth ₹750 crore in different packages and begin work by August, he said. Over 79% of the works on an average had been completed.