AP State Govt seeks Finance Commission recommendation to Central Govt for Special Category Status

Amaravati: Giving a comprehensive presentation on social, economic, agricultural, industrial and other sectors to Fifteenth Finance Commission members, the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy requested them to recommend for Special Category Status on Thursday at Tadepalli in Guntur district.

The state government in a meeting with the 15th Finance commission said that Andhra Pradesh was severely damaged due to the bifurcation of the state and there was no improvement in the industrial and service sectors. Above all, the state has lost capital due to partition and requested finance commission to help the state in a liberal way to recover from the crisis.

The officials have also mentioned that the assured guarantees were also pending and for the same, they asked the committee members to see that there would be a staff to look after the implementation of all the assured benefits in the state under the Bifurcation Act.

The officials said that the state government was implementing innovative initiatives for integrated development and for the same asked the committee members to see that the state receives appropriate support. They asked to make recommendations that benefit the state.

Geographically, the state has some problems; the Rayalaseema region constantly inundated with drought, eight coast districts were frequently hit by floods. The state government has brought several issues to the 15th Finance commission notice and requested them to recommend the central government to give funds and provide appropriate support for the development of the state.

Urbanization is low compared to the country average; the average urban population of the country is 31.16 percent whereas, the AP is only 29.6 percent and GSDP is 34 percent. 31.9 percent of members in the state are suffering from malnutrition. The industrial sector share has drooped from 25.2 to 23.4 percent, Service sector share dropped from 44.6 to 43.0 percent, Per capita income is lower in AP compared to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana.

The per capita income of Telangana is 2,05,696, while the AP is 1,64,025. The division of assets under Schedule 9 has not happened yet. Of the 142 assets in Schedule 10, Telangana's has got 107 but AP remained with only 15. Another 20 assets are jointly owned by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The AP Bhavan has not divided yet. Renowned institutions such as the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, ICRISAT, BHEL, ESIL, HAL remained in Telangana. This has reduced employment opportunities for the state people.

The state government also mentioned that the unemployment rate between 15 and 29 years was 22.8 percent of AP whereas, the country has 20.6 percent. About Rs 5,127 crores are yet to be paid for AP GENCO by Telangana Discoms and interest on this was Rs 604.7 crores. All this amount has not received yet.

The officials said that Andhra Pradesh was facing a financial imbalance and was a situation where the state has turned from surplus to deficit in the funds The state has to be rebuilt and asked the commission to recommended for special status to the state.

The officials mentioned that responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, it was answered that the appeal by Chief Minister YS Jagan for special status was referred to the 15th Finance Commission. For the same, the state officials have requested the 15th finance commission to recommend the central government to give special status for the state of Andhra Pradesh. About Rs 18,969.26 crore has to be paid as the revenue deficit but so far, only Rs 3,979 crore was revived.cThe backward districts have to get Rs 24,350 crore, but so far, only Rs 1,050 crore has been received.

The finance commission has sought information about the Polavaram project works. The state government mentioned that has spent own funds of Rs 5,103 crore on the Polavaram project and that amount was not released yet. The revised project estimates Rs 55,548.87 crore has to be approved. Rs 16,000 crore should be released for the works and rehabilitation in the next financial year.

The official mentioned that the port should be built in Duggarjapatnam as per the Bifurcation Act and Phase-1 was expected to be completed by 2018. The officials asked to grant the funds assured for the port. They requested to provide appropriate support for the port construction near Ramayapatnam.

They said that industrial incentives and tax exemptions were also enacted in the law and request the committee to recommend for those approvals immediately. The officials mentioned that the Kadapa steel plant should be constructed as per the Bifurcation Act and for the same they have requested to announce the steel plant immediately.

The officials said that in 2013–14, the state debt was Rs 1,23,586 crore that and GSDP is -0.05 in, in 2018–19, the state's debt was Rs 2,60,330 crore and GSDP is is1.3 percent. In 2013-14, the revenue deficit in GSDP was 2.4 percent and now it is 3.6 percent. Debt Effectiveness in GSDP was 22.2 percent in 2013-14 and now 28.2 percent. Debt Effectiveness in GSDP was 22.2 percent in 2013-14 and now it is 28.2 percent. Rs 22,733 of National Savings Institute and Central loans should be waived.

The officials have also asked to provide appropriate assistance for the Navaratnas that were introduced by the state government. They asked to provide financial assistance for the Godavari - Penna link Via Bollapalli Reservoir project. The state government requested the commission to recommend to grant Rs 40,543 crore local companies from 2020 to 2025 under Resource gap. The state government said that the allocation of medical colleges on a district basis was inappropriate and asked to consider at least Parliament constituencies. The finance commission said that it would consider the request.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K. Singh involved in the meeting, Finance Commission Secretary Aravind Mehta, Ravi Kota, and other officials were present at the meeting.

Finance department Principal Secretary Rawat, Education department Secretary Rajasekhar, Ministry of Water Resources Principal Secretary Adityanath Das, Ministry of Energy Secretary Srikanth and Industries department Principal Secretary Rajit Bhargava have given a presentation to the 15th Finance commission.