Andhra: While TDP Is Jubilant Over Budget Funds, YSRCP Asks Why Loan For Amaravati Instead Of Grant

Andhra Pradesh was one of only two states to specifically get a promise of significant funds from the Centre.

The leaders of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which leads the government in Andhra, were elated because they were promised funds for the capital at Amaravati, the Polavaram dam, projects like the industrial corridor, and also received a commitment to fulfill promises made in the Andhra Reorganisation Act.

The Andhra announcements were generally seen as the Centre giving the state a ‘special package’ instead of the ‘special status’ over which the TDP had quit the Narendra Modi 2.0 government in 2018.

But former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's Yuva Jana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), the principal opposition party, took advantage of the lack of clarity in Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech.

Comparing the announcements made for Andhra with those for Bihar, the YSRCP said that while the latter is likely to get funds in the form of a grant, the former was getting funds for Amaravati in the form of a loan.

In her speech, Sitharaman said, “...we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral development agencies.” Whether this amount was going to be disbursed entirely as a loan or partially as a grant was not clear at the time.

Later, in a press conference, Sitharaman said it would mainly be a loan from the World Bank, but there might also be a component of governmental contribution.

She added that the quantum of central government contribution would be decided after discussions.

For the Polavaram dam and other projects, no specific amount was mentioned in the budget speech.

Further, the YSRCP highlighted that Naidu had earlier asked for Rs 1 lakh crore for Amaravati, but the central government, in which his party’s support is crucial, was only facilitating an amount of Rs 15,000 crore.

The TDP defended itself by saying that Rs 15,000 crore was promised in the current financial year and that, as per the Finance Minister, more would be granted in the following years.

Political commentators this writer spoke to said that while a grant would have been better, the Centre agreeing to facilitate a loan was beneficial, as it would secure a lower interest rate as compared to the state government.

The domination of the discourse by Amaravati and the nature of funds, however, ensured that the announcement of grants to backward regions of the state, like the districts in north coastal Andhra, Rayalseema, and Prakasam, were lost in the din.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh To Receive Rs 9,151 Crore For Railway Development Projects As Part Of Budget 2024-25