Jagan government destroyed AP economy says Chandrababu Naidu

Vijayawada : The economic terrorism unleashed on the state by the previous government had led Telangana into a situation where it was now struggling to come out of the massive debt trap. The state is now forced to look at the Centre for bailing the state out of the debt trap.

The legacy the NDA alliance government led by TDP had inherited in Andhra Pradesh from YSRCP can be a classic case study on how natural resources of a state have been “looted,” and understand how one can loot the same by using technology and ‘criminal ideas’, said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Releasing a white paper on state finances in the Assembly on Friday, Naidu said the previous government had left behind a debt of Rs 9.74 lakh crore. This means that every person in the state has a debt burden of Rs 1.44 lakh per head as of now. The present financial crisis is more than the state bifurcation loss.

He said the previous YSRCP government had diverted Panchayat Raj funds, mortgaged government properties, diverted the funds of employees and even Rs 100 from SHG funds were withdrawn. Where they were used or misused needs to be probed. Their misrule led to the investors losing confidence in the state, he added.

Naidu said the damage caused to the Polavaram diaphragm wall and ignoring the project works which were completed to the extent of 75% between 2014-2019 during the previous term of the TDP had resulted in loss to the extent of Rs 45,000 crore. The National Dam Safety Authority and foreign experts have said that the diaphragm wall cannot be repaired and hence recommended that a new D-wall be constructed. This would cost Rs 960 crore. The damage and repairs would cost Rs 4,900 crore and there has been Rs 3,000 crore loss due to a delay in hydel power generation.

The previous government dumped Amaravati capital city project due to vendetta politics resulting a loss Rs 2 lakh crore per annum income to the state.

It would have also generated 7000 jobs, the CM said.

The loss on account of illegal mining was Rs 7,000 crore, Rs 9,750 crore through looting of mineral wealth, Rs 12,250 crore additional burden due to short-term power purchases. There were only losses and no wealth generation during the previous YSRCP regime. All this contributed to a revenue loss of Rs 76,196 crore and inflation increased to 6.2%, he said.

The previous government had diverted taxes to the tune of Rs 20,676 crore through AP State Beverages Corporation Limited and Rs 14,275 crore through the AP State Development Corporation. Most shocking was that the YSRCP government had mortgaged government properties worth Rs 1,941 crore in Visakhapatnam alone and diverted funds of local bodies to a tune of Rs 5,308 crore. Even employees’ savings of Rs 5,243 crore were not spared, the CM said. As a result, the gap to meet essential committed expenditure during 2024-25 stands at Rs 19,107 crore, he added.