AP eyes on Union budget, pins hope on budget allocations

 Patibandla Srinivas ([email protected])  

Amaravati: July 21: Andhra Pradesh has trained its eyes on the Union budget which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on July 23. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his team including Union Ministers, MPs, and other legislators are pinning their hopes on the allocations owing to TDP being a key partner in the NDA government.

AP Chief Minister has already met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, and Home Minister Amit Shah and submitted the list of State requirements. Chief Minister has expressed concerns over the State’s financial condition and explained to the Centre the precarious fiscal condition.

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly sessions is commencing on July 22 a day before the Parliament sessions. The AP Assembly will discuss the financial situation and it may request the Centre to give priority in the budget allocations. As per the officials, the Andhra Pradesh State needs nearly one lakh crore additional funds to meet the present requirements.

The Andhra Pradesh government data reveals a worrying trend in the state’s fiscal health owing to the misrule of the previous Government. The public debt has risen from 31.02 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2019-20 to 33.32 per cent in 2023-24, indicating a deterioration over the past five years. Already the State government has explained the situation to the Centre after the post-bifurcation challenges. Still, several issues were not resolved through the 10-year tenure completed to resolve the internal issues between the two states. On the other hand, the Polavaram project needs additional funds including the rehabilitation and resettlement package.

The State government needs funds again to restart the Amaravati capital construction works. The Centre may permit it to raise funds through bonds. It will also be a big relief to the State government. Apart from this several road projects including the Amaravati express highway, outer ring road, inner ring road, light metro corridor, railway lanes, bridges, industrial incentives, and special financial assistance are on the list of Andhra Pradesh demands.

Likewise, the establishment of ports and new airports proposals have been pending with the Union government for the last several years. The proposals may get the nod in the Centre’s budget since the TDP’s MPs’ support is important to the Centre. In this backdrop, not only the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, MPs, and all the Telugu-speaking people are eagerly waiting for the budget allocations with positive expectations.