With the aim to mobilise resources to improve infrastructure in municipal areas of Lucknow and Ghaziabad, the Uttar Pradesh government has allowed these two municipal corporations to float Municipal Bonds.

Besides, the government has also encouraged people to open small shops in residential areas by reducing house tax.

These decisions were taken in the UP Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Monday.

Briefing media persons, state government spokesperson and Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma said for the first time, municipal corporations had been allowed to borrow from people to improve their infrastructure. He said the Lucknow Municipal Corporation would float Rs 200 crore bonds and the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation Rs 150 crore bonds.

The LMC will use the funds generated through bonds for sewage and drinking water projects while the GMC would use it for treating sewage water for industrial use.

“The  Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the proposal. Two credit rating agencies have been engaged to complete the process within a month’s time,” Sharma said, adding that the bonds would be listed in the Bombay and national stock exchanges very soon.

Maintaining that the bonds would be an attraction for the institutions to invest in, the minister said that the municipal corporations would have to pay around 9 per cent interest. 

A separate cell would be set up in both the municipal corporations to monitor the performance.

In another important decision, the UP government has given a big sop to small traders by approving a proposal of municipal corporations to reduce tax on small shops in the residential areas.

As per the proposal, a shop having a maximum area of 120 square feet will have to pay one-and-a-half time of the house tax from the existing rate of five times. Small shops in the residential areas like those of tailors, barbers, laundry, photostat would stand benefited from this decision, Sharma said.

However, the government clarified that it was up to the development authorities to permit shops though such shops were allowed in mixed habitation areas.

In another decision, the government has made misuse of government official logo a punishable offence. The government has proposed a jail term of two years and a fine of Rs 5,000 for this offence.

The government has also reduced the qualifying marks in written exams for sub-inspectors and inspectors in the civil police by amending the service rule. Now, against the mandatory 50 per cent marks in all the four subjects for qualifying the examination, the aspirants will qualify the exam with 35 per cent marks in individual subjects provided the aggregate is 50 per cent.

Defence industrial corridor: In order to speed up the acquisition of land for the ambitious Defence Industrial Corridor project, the Cabinet has approved a proposal to transfer 45.498 acres of land of the Agriculture department to the Industry department in Aligarh. 

The government has already acquired around 2,500 acres of land in Aligarh, Jhansi and other places for the defence corridor in the state.

Besides, the government has also approved to amend the service rule for promotion of deputy director in the Backward Welfare department to the post of joint director.