Centre yet to fulfill major promises as per AP-Reorganisation

The state received only 46% of the revenues of the combined state while accounting for the 58% of its population

Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan today said the Centre was yet to fulfill the major promises made to the (truncated) state in accordance with the AP Reorganisation Act-2014.

"The tax incentives for industrial development, the financial grants for development of new capital, the promise of a new railway zone, financing Polavaram as a national project, the assurance of conferring Special Category Status to the state, etc., which are incorporated in the AP Reorganisation Act and assured in Parliament, are yet to be fulfilled," Narasimhan said addressing the joint session of AP Legislature on the opening day of the Budget session here.

"The resource gap for the 2014-15 fiscal year is estimated at Rs 16,079 crore by AG while the state was granted an adhoc grant of Rs 2303 crore till date by the Centre, leaving huge pendency of Rs 13,776 crore.

Likewise, the grant received for development of seven backward districts in the state is Rs 50 crore per year per district for the last two years," the Governor pointed out.

"I wish to place on record that the unscientific bifurcation of the state has put tremendous stress on the revenues of the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

The state received only 46 per cent of the revenues of the combined state while accounting for the 58 per cent of its population, which was confirmed by the 14th Finance Commission," Narasimhan said.

Despite severe bottlenecks in the wake of bifurcation, the government has registered appreciable progress in achieving its objective of inclusive growth with commendable performance in both development and welfare sectors, he added.

"With relentless hard work and dedication, the state could successfully achieve double digit growth in 2015-16 financial year.

As per advanced estimates, the GSDP registered a growth of 10.99 per cent as against the corresponding national growth of 7.6 per cent. The overall Gross Value Added (GVA) growth of 10.50 per cent at constant (2011-12) basic prices, as against the national growth of 7.3 per cent for the same period, has bolstered the image of the state," he said.

"The government is aiming to achieve 15 per cent growth

in the next fiscal year so as to place the state among the best in the country," Narasimhan added.

"Sustaining double digit growth for the next 14 years is imperative to ensure that Andhra Pradesh stands tall among its peers.

Going beyond the human development concept, our focus will be on enhancing the happiness index and the government's vision is to make AP one among the top three performing states by 2022 and the top performing state by 2029," he elaborated.