Namami Gange phase-2 to begin in 2022, bidding process to start in 3 months

The bidding process for projects under the second phase of the Namami Gange mission will start in the next three months, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga Rajiv Mishra said on Tuesday.

The bidding process for projects under the second phase of the Namami Gange mission will start in the next three months, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga Rajiv Mishra said on Tuesday. The funding for the second phase was approved by the World Bank last week, and it will kickstart after the phase-1 ends on December 31, 2021, a statement by the NMCG said. For the next phase, an agreement for the USD 400-million (Rs 3,023.10 crores) loan was signed on Tuesday by Sameer Kumar Khare, the additional secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the Government of India, and Qaiser Khan, World Bank acting country director, India. This comprises a loan of USD 381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to USD 19 million, the statement said.

The Second National Ganga River Basin Project has now been given the go-ahead for an amount of USD 400 million for taking up projects on the tributaries of Ganga with a view to address pollution abatement in the entire Ganga basin, a statement by the National Mission for Clean Ganga said. The loan provides USD 150 million (Rs 1,134 crores) for three new Hybrid Annuity Projects in Agra, Meerut and Saharanpur over the tributaries of Ganga (Yamuna and Kali).

“The bidding process will start in the next three months,” Mishra said. USD 160 million (Rs 1,209 crores) has been provided for ongoing DBOT (Design, Build, Operate & Transfer) projects in Buxar, Munger, Begusarai and Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM) projects of Digha, Kankarbagh in Patna (Bihar), and Howrah, Bally and Baranagar in West Bengal to be funded from the next phase. Under Ganga -- II, 482 MLD (Million Litres per Day) STP capacity shall be created. In addition, 378 MLD STP capacity and 911 Km of sewage network approved under Ganga – I will also be funded.

The balance, USD 71 million will be for various activities pertaining to Institutional Development (USD 20 million), improving Investments Resilience to COVID-19 like emergency situations (USD 5 million), Performance Based Incentive for Urban Local Bodies (USD 30 million) and Programme Communication and Management (USD 16 million). The National Ganga River Basin Project (NGRBP) is an important component of Namami Gange. A World Bank funded National Ganga River Basin Project (Ganga –I) for an amount of USD 600 million is currently ongoing and is approved up to December 31, 2021 for funding infrastructure projects of Pollution abatement in the river Ganga.

With a funding of Rs 4,535 Crores, Ganga-I helped build sewage infrastructure in 20 towns along the main stem of the Ganga. Sewage Treatment Plants with a capacity of 793 MLD have been created, along with 3,589 Km of sewage network. Several crucial projects have been completed in Rishikesh, Muni Ki Reti, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Narora, Anupshahar, Patna, Sahibganj.

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