In his full-year budget, the minister proposed an estimated revenue expenditure of ₹2.36 lakh crore and a capital expenditure of ₹32,712 crore.
Published Nov 11, 2024 | 2:35 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 11, 2024 | 2:42 PM
Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav presenting the budget. (Screengrab)
Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav on Monday, 11 November, presented a ₹2.94 lakh crore budget for 2024-25 in the state Assembly, with a focus on welfare, school education and skill development of the youth to make them employment-ready.
In his full-year budget, the minister proposed an estimated revenue expenditure of ₹2.36 lakh crore and a capital expenditure of ₹32,712 crore. The revenue deficit is expected to be about ₹34,743 crore and the fiscal deficit is about ₹68,742 crore. The fiscal deficit will be 4.19 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) while the revenue deficit will be 2.12 percent.
Agriculture Minister K Atchen Naidu presented a separate budget of ₹43,402 crore for agriculture and allied departments.
The major beneficiary of the main budget, which Keshav presented, was the Backwards Classes (BC) Welfare Department which got a lion’s share of about ₹39,007 crore followed by ₹18,497 crore for Scheduled Castes (SC) welfare and ₹7,557 crore for Scheduled Tribes (ST) welfare departments.
The minister reiterated the government’s resolve to implement all the Super Six promises, no matter what, adding that some of them were already under implementation.
He also announced that the state government would soon introduce free rides for women on RTC buses.
The minister described the budget as the stepping stone to restart and rebuild Andhra Pradesh. “Our government is committed to helping every family achieve their dream for health, education, knowledge, skills and wealth.”
At the outset, the minister had said the budget he was presenting would go beyond the numbers as it was the reflection of the will of the people of Andhra Pradesh who have given the NDA an unprecedented mandate to “save” the state.
There were no Opposition members to interrupt the minister as he slammed the earlier government on how it had “turned the state’s economy upside down”.
YSRCP chief and former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced that his party was boycotting the Assembly session as the ruling dispensation refused to recognise his party as the Opposition in the House.
As a result, there were no scenes of uproar or abusive verbal exchanges as the minister read out his budget speech.
The minister went to great lengths to explain how the previous YSRCP government had messed with finances.
He said that there was an erosion of the state’s revenues on account of the looting of natural resources, flawed policies in excise and mining, discounting 25 years of future income by diverting taxes, exorbitant debt levels and borrowing at higher interest rates, raising loans in violation of the Union government guidelines and diversion of centrally sponsored scheme funds.
The other factors he listed were diversion of local body funds, piling up of outstanding dues of government employees, unpaid work liabilities, stalling all irrigation projects, destruction of the energy sector and so on.
The minister said that the economy was on the brink of collapse warranting the need to restart and rebuild the state. “For this to happen, the state is devising schemes prioritising welfare and aligning them with Swarna Andhra@ 2047,” he added.
Allocating ₹16,705 crore to the water resources department, the finance minister said that the government was designing a comprehensive new water policy to take water to every possible field and that plans are being prepared to make the state drought-proof and ensure water security for drinking, irrigation and industrial needs.
Keshav said the government’s priority continued to be the early completion of the Polavaram Project while it remained committed to completing other projects including the Chintalapudi Lift Irrigation Scheme, BRR Vamsadhara Project Phase II of State II, Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Project, Handri Niva Sujala Sravanthi project and others.
“Additionally, the government intends to undertake the Bhavanasi Tank Conversion project, Mahendra Tanayana Offshore project, interlink the Godavari-Penna and Nagavali-Vamsadhara rivers to ensure water security across the state,” he said.
Dwelling at length on the industrial policy of the state government, Keshav said that he was allocating ₹3,127 crore for the industries and commerce department. He said the government intended to promote industries, get investments and encourage entrepreneurship and employment generation.
The minister said he was allocating ₹8,207 crore for the Energy department to give a new thrust after the sector which, according to him, was destroyed in the previous regime.
“The government is committed to providing low-cost but quality 24×7 power supply to consumers. A new comprehensive Andhra Pradesh integrated Clean Energy Policy 2024 has been notified for promoting sustainability, and energy transition technologies in the state,” Keshav said.
The new policy, he said, paves the way for the promotion of renewable energy, pumped storage power, green hydrogen and its derivatives positioning the state as the preferred destination for investments.
In the transportation sector, the government accorded priority to the Amaravati Outer Ring Road (ORR) project which, he said, was stalled by the previous government.
The Union government had given its approval for the 189 km long ORR expressway. The project will link the capital with other parts of the state, boost regional connectivity and aim for development of the state.
Apart from this, 687 km of six-lane national highway projects are in progress, the minister said and allocated ₹9,554 crore for the sector to give a new thrust to the projects’ implementation in the state.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
