Andhra Pradesh Gets Union Budget Allocations: Amaravati, Polavaram Funding

Amaravati, Jul 23 (PTI) Amid mounting calls for Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh, the Union Budget on Tuesday promised significant allocations to the state, including Rs 15,000 crore for the development of the capital, Amaravati.
Ahead of the budget presentation today, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made a couple of visits to the national capital where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, presenting various requests to them.



The allocations in the budget for Andhra Pradesh underscore the NDA government's reliance on crucial support from the Telugu Desam Party, which holds 16 Lok Sabha seats, and actor Pawan Kalyan-led Janasena, with two seats.


The substantial aid earmarked for Amaravati is expected to bolster the TDP-led NDA government's morale in the state, jumpstarting the stalled capital project after a hiatus of five years under the YSRCP government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, which had pushed a three-capital theory.



Apart from the Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati, other promises in the budget such as financial support for the Polavaram irrigation project and the Backward Districts package, are mandated by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.


“Today the Centre promised Rs 15,000 crore financial support in the budget. There is hope that happy days are here again. Had Amaravati been completed, the state would have had a Rs 2 to 3 lakh crore asset,” Naidu said in the assembly during a debate.




He further said the state should thank the Centre for categorically assuring that it would complete Polavaram Project “as early as possible”.




On February 20, 2014 in Rajya Sabha, former prime minister Manmohan Singh had pledged special category status (SCS) to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh for five years.


In a statement on a special package for the successor state of Andhra Pradesh, the then PM also promised to facilitate smooth and full Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R) under the Polavaram Project.


Political analyst P Pulla Rao said the Union Budget presented today met public expectations.


"The expectations were very high but they were largely met by the central government. And the political challenge for the NDA government at the state as well as Centre was acute and the budget has met the challenge,” he told PTI.


Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech said the NDA government at the Centre is fully committed to financing and swiftly completing the Polavaram irrigation project, which is considered a lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers.


Sitharaman further said under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, funds will be provided for promoting industrial development, which includes enhancing essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads, and also grants for backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North coastal Andhra Pradesh.