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 "N Chandrababu Naidu, Chandrababu, Naidu")
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (Photo: PTI)
Andhra Pradesh needs an additional Rs 19,107 crore to meet its essential committed expenditure for 2024-25, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said while releasing a ‘white paper’, which blamed the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government’s “financial mismanagement” for pushing the state into a “potential debt trap”.
In the ‘white paper’, Naidu claimed the state’s essential committed expenditure for FY25 stood at Rs 1.64 trillion while its untied revenues (state’s own revenue plus tax devolutions) was Rs 1.45 trillion. He said the state’s debt increased from Rs 3.75 trillion (as on March 31, 2019) to Rs 9.74 trillion (as on June 12, 2024) during the tenure of the previous Y S Jaganmohan Reddy government.
Naidu said the state’s economic growth rate in nominal terms reduced from 13.5 per cent (2014-19) to 10.5 per cent (2019-24), with agriculture sector growth shrinking to 10.3 per cent (2019-24) from 16 per cent (2014-19). He said the government’s capital spending declined by 60 per cent from Rs 60,879 crore during 2014-19 to Rs 24,267 crore during 2019-24. The transport, roads, and buildings and water resources departments were starved of funds, said Naidu who was the CM from 2014 to 2019.
Naidu said he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other Union ministers, including the finance minister, “twice” over the last month, which resulted in the Budget announcement of Rs 15,000 crore financial support for FY25 for the reconstruction of Amaravati with the promise of “additional amounts in the future”, the Centre’s assurance to assist in the early completion of the Polavaram project, grants for backward regions of Andhra and funds for infrastructure development in Kopparthy (Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor) and Orvakal (Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor).
Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party, which leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Andhra Pradesh, is a crucial ally of the bloc at the Centre. This is the seventh ‘white paper’ that Naidu has released since June 12 to accuse the YSRCP government of leaving the state’s finances in shambles even as he has sought financial assistance from the Centre to escape the “potential debt trap” that he said Andhra faces.
Naidu claimed that the previous government has left Rs 1.35 trillion worth of liabilities, including Rs 1.13 trillion of outstanding dues to vendors and for welfare schemes and the rest being outstanding dues to the state government employees. He blamed the previous government’s “inefficient governance in the energy sector causing losses of Rs 1.29 trillion” and increased tariffs for customers and industry.
The CM alleged that the YSRCP government’s five-year tenure was marked by lack of capital expenditure, reduced private investments, and a revenue loss of Rs 7 trillion. “Without money we cannot do anything. Andhra Pradesh was growing faster than Telangana between 2014 and 2019 but there was destruction of the economy between 2019 and 2024. Farmers’ incomes declined and debts increased. When you create wealth, people’s income will increase,” Naidu said in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
He said the stalling of work on Amaravati, mismanagement of the Polavaram project, and energy contracts destroyed investor confidence and damaged the state’s brand image.
First Published: Jul 26 2024 | 8:34 PM IS
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