Centre committed to uplift AP: Nirmala

Visakhapatnam: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman underlined that the Centre is committed to extend its support to Andhra Pradesh on all aspects.

Speaking to the media in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, the FM said the Union government is meeting the assurance made as part of the AP Reorganisation Act.

In connection with it, the Finance Minister said, the Centre is taking the complete responsibility of the Polavaram project facilitating funds for its completion.

“However, there are a number of reasons for its delay which further increases its cost. Changes made in the height of the project, state government not able to clear doubts raised by the technical department, among others, attributed to slowing down of the project. Funds are released by the Centre by taking aspects such as the need to examine how the funds are being utilised for the project, whether the state government submitted utilization certificate in time into consideration," she underlined.

Responding to a query on reciprocal tariff referred by the US President, the Union Finance Minister said negotiations were on in this regard and Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal had gone to the US to hold discussions with the United States Trade representatives. “Before flying to the US, Piyush Goyal consulted with the stakeholders and the Indian export interests are kept in mind during the negotiations,” the Union Finance Minister explained.

Further, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that both the countries will keep respective interests in view for negotiating the reciprocal tariff and take the best step forward.

Talking about the budget, the Union Finance Minister stated that the allocations announced for Andhra Pradesh are getting cleared one after the other.

About RINL, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that all efforts are made to restore the lost glory of the plant and large sums of funds have been

released by the Centre which is more than the amount calculated for the purpose. Steps are also taken to ensure that the plant operates in a consistent manner by making all the three

blast furnaces operational, she stated.

Speaking about how ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ are making a huge difference, the Finance Minister recalled how India was largely dependent on China and other countries for its daily essential supplies such as matchbox, agarbathis and even Ganesh idols. “But the scenario is totally changed now with the encouragement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” she stressed.