AP proposes 13.5% rise in expenditure in vote-on-account Budget

Revenue surplus at Rs 474 crore; fiscal deficit at 2.6% of GSDP for 2014-15

With the end of its term around the corner, the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday presented a vote-on-account Budget with an estimated expenditure of Rs 1,83,129 crore for 2014-15 in the state legislative Assembly.  

The proposed expenditure is higher 13.5 per cent over the current Budget size of Rs 1,61,348.68 crore and of this rise, close to Rs 10,000 crore would be on account of salaries and pensions.

State finance minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy ended his Budget presentation in less than ten minutes by skipping most of the 32-page speech citing conditions on the floor of the House. There was no customary address by the governor this time as well.

During the brief session members from the Telangana region kept raising slogans and some of them even stormed the well of the House, targeting the chief minister and the Speaker for the manner in which the state bifurcation Bill was carried with a voice vote on January 29.

According to the budgetary figures, the year 2014-15 would end with an estimated revenue surplus of Rs 474 crore and a fiscal deficit at Rs 25,402 crore or 2.6 per cent of the  gross state domestic product (GSDP) as compared with an indicative revenue surplus of Rs 1,023 crore and an estimated fiscal deficit of Rs 24,487 crore (2.87 per cent of the GSDP) for the current financial year.

The government has allocated Rs 1,15,179 crore under non-Plan expenditure and Rs 67,949.64 crore under Plan expenditure as compared with Rs 101,926.20 crore and Rs 59,422.50 crore in the current year’s Budget respectively.

Of this, the finance minister is seeking approval of the House for an expenditure of Rs 79,469.83 crore for the six-month period beginning April 1, 2014, while the new government will present a full Budget after it assumes office in May  following the elections.  

The government will put the vote-on-account for the approval of the House on February 13, the last day of the four-day session as well as of the current Assembly.

According to some ruling party leaders, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is expected to resign on the same day in protest against the AP Reorganisation Bill, 2013, which is likely to be tabled in both the houses of Parliament by then. The timing will obviously give no scope for his replacement as the governor may ask him to continue in the office till a new government is in place. Election schedule for both the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly elections is expected in the last week of this month.