For the first time after bifurcation of the State, the Andhra Pradesh Government presented State Budget at Amaravati, the new capital in Guntur district, on Wednesday March 15,2017, with the proposals amounting to Rs. 1,56,999 crores.
Presenting the State Budget in the Assembly, Finance Minister Y. Ramakrishnudu said the State, even though facing great challenges, was going ahead with great determination and vision towards achieving the main objectives of building a world class capital city at Amaravati, building the mega Polavaram project on the Godavari and developing the industry and agriculture.
He said the revenue expenditure amounted to Rs. 1,25,912 crore and the capital expenditure Rs. 31,087 crore. The fiscal deficit amounted to Rs. 23,054 crore and the revenue deficit Rs. 416 cr. The growth rate amounted to 11.61 per cent and the objective was to maintain a growth rate of 12 per cent in tune with Vision 2029 prepared by the Government.
One of the important features in the Budget was allocation of Rs. 500 crore for giving allowance to the unemployed youth.
Agriculture : A separate agriculture budget was presented in the Assembly with Rs. 18,124 crore by the Agriculture Minister P. Pulla Rao. For agriculture and allied sectors, Rs. 9,091 crores was allocated . The growth in the agriculture sector was put at 14 per cent. For fisheries, Rs. 282 crore was allocated. For loan waiver Rs. 3,600 crore was allocated and for irrigation, the allocation amounted to Rs. 12,770 crore.
Welfare : Ramakrishnudu said the State Government was giving great importance to welfare, with allocation of Rs. 10,000 crore to backward classes and Rs. 9,847 crore to scheduled castes. For scheduled tribes welfare, Rs. 1,814 crore was allocated. For the Kapu Corporation, Rs. 1,000 crore was allocated and for Brahmin Corporation Rs. 75 crore.
Rural development : For rural development, Rs. 19,565 crore was allocated and for the power sector Rs.4,274 crore. For industry, the allocation was Rs. 2,086 crore and for the IT sector Rs. 364 crore. A sum of Rs.1,600 crore was allocated for capital re-infusion into DWCRA (self-help) groups of women.
Smart cities : The State Government made a special allocation of Rs. 450 crore for the smart cities identified by the Union Government - Visakhapatnam, Kakinada and Tirupati. For 13 other cities identified by itself for development, the State Government allocated Rs. 150 crore.
For Anna canteens, named after NTR and based on the TN model of Amma canteens, the Government allocated Rs. 200 crore. For the Vijayawada metro Rs. 100 crore was allocated.
The Finance Minister said the aim was to build 10 lakh houses in the next two years. He also expressed confidence that there would be no fund paucity for the construction of the capital city and also the Polavaram project. The latter is being funded by the Union Government as a national project. He said the Polavaram headworks may be ready by 2018.
Later, commenting on the Budget, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said it reflected the aspirations and vision of the State Government.
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