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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a special package of Rs 15,000 crore for Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget today, which would be key to developing Amaravati, the state’s capital city and Chief Minister Chandhababu Naidu’s dream project.
She said Rs 15,000 crore would be released in this financial year itself – as per the project requirements and progress made. This will be followed up with special financial support in subsequent years too. The FM also announced that a Visakhapatnam-Chennai-Orvakal-Hyderabad industrial corridor would be established, as well as a Hyderabad-Bengaluru industrial corridor that partially covers Andhra Pradesh.
A special backward areas fund has also been announced for Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and north Andhra Pradesh districts.
She said the Centre would help in fulfilling whatever promises and assurances which were given to Andhra Pradesh under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. She also announced that the Centre would extend funds and help to complete the Polavaram project.
The ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had also sought funds and assistance to lay new roads and water pipelines, to which the FM agreed, apart from promising to improve railway connectivity in the state.
Ahead of the Budget Naidu had made three rounds of Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, as well as cabinet ministers including Nirmala Sitharaman to press for their demands.
The Rs 15,000 crores for Amaravati is a big boost for Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, whose party TDP is an NDA partner, as well as his cash-starved state. Naidu can finally hope to finish the construction of the capital city he had dreamt of building during his first tenure after bifurcation of the state from 2014 to 2019, and had to leave it halfway after losing power to Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Reddy had scrapped the capital city project and instead floated decentralised development with Amaravati being the legislative capital, while Visakhpatnam would be the executive capital, and Kurnool the judicial capital.
However, Reddy did not make any further efforts on this. Naidu recently said that he plans to finish what he had started. He is also planning to bring the state back on the path of economic development, and announce policies to attract investments, especially in the IT sector. The two industrial corridors announced by the FM today will help in attracting industries and investments to the state.
During Naidu’s tenure from 2014-19, a six-lane Seed Capital Road, new high court building, the secretariat and legislative complex were constructed and commissioned while several highrise apartments meant for the All India Services (AIS) officers, bungalows for judges, and senior IAS officers, and ministers were left half finished.
