AP Assembly passes 'vote-on-account' budget

The first round of the Budget Session of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly ended today after the House passed a 'vote-on-account' budget for a part of the 2013-14 financial year.
The Rs 1.61 lakh crore budget proposals for the ensuing fiscal, presented by Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, will now be discussed by the Department- Related Standing Committees being constituted for the first time in the state Legislature.
The House will reconvene after a gap of three weeks when the recommendations of the Standing Committees will be discussed by the Assembly before the Appropriation Bill is adopted for the entire fiscal.

Speaker Nadendla Manohar adjourned the House sine die this evening after the vote-on-account was approved and the motion of thanks to the Governor's address adopted at the end of a 11-hour-long short-duration discussion on the power crisis in the state.
Replying to the discussion on power, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who also holds the Energy portfolio, ruled out withdrawal of the proposed hike in electricity tariff for the ensuing financial year that is expected to impose an additional financial burden of a staggering Rs 12,000 crore on consumers.
He also rejected the opposition demand that the government itself bear the burden of fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA) and not pass it on to the consumers.

The government has been purchasing power in heavy quantities from outside sources as electricity generation in the state from gas-based and hydro power stations fell to just 14 per cent.