Visakhapatnam gets ₹1,501.03 crore Centre nod for water, drainage projects; Madhurawada gets lion’s share

The National Apex Committee (NAC) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has given in-principle approval to three major proposals for Visakhapatnam’s development, with a total outlay of ₹1,501.03 crore.

The projects were cleared under the Urban Challenge Fund (UCF) at a meeting in New Delhi, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner Ketan Garg told The Hindu on Wednesday (May 13, 2026).

Madhurawada gets the lion’s share

The largest share of the investment is going to the Madhurawada growth corridor, with ₹725.18 crore for a 24/7 smart water supply system and ₹658.61 crore for an underground drainage (UGD) network. These projects include a 65 MLD water treatment plant and a 20 MLD sewage treatment plant using Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) technology.

City-wide automation against water losses

A third project, valued at ₹117.24 crore, focuses on the automation of bulk and semi-bulk water metering across Visakhapatnam. By integrating Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)-based systems and installing over 7,800 meters, the GVMC aims to improve billing accuracy, monitor production nodes in real time and reduce non-revenue water (NRW) leakages.

Blended finance model

The portfolio is structured under a blended finance model, combining a 25% Government of India (GoI) grant via the UCF (₹375.26 crore) with multilateral financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and domestic bank lending from Canara Bank and Indian Overseas Bank (IOB).

GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg said, “The sanction was made as a resounding endorsement of the city’s commitment to evidence-based and fiscally responsible infrastructure planning.”