The Union Budget 2024-25, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has sparked uproar over the nature of Rs 15,000 crore funds proposed by her for AP Capital city Amaravati, for this year. It may be recalled that during the earlier regime of Chandrababu Naidu also, the then union finance minister Arun Jaitly proposed Rs 1500 crore for Amaravati, but that amount was not fully released before Naidu steps down.
Moreover, in her budget speech the finance minister specifically stated that this amount of Rs 15,000 crore will be mobilised as loan from multilateral financial institutions like ADB. But there is no clarity whether that loan added with interest to be paid by the AP government or the center will repay the same?
It is the responsibility of the central government to construct buildings like the Secretariat, Assembly and High Court for a new state capital. The estimated cost is more than Rs 60,000 crore. But the center is silent on it responsibility.
In the same way, Nirmala Sitharaman promised to assist Polavaram Project, she didn’t refer to any financial commitment. For the last several years, the union finance ministry has not approved the revised estimation of cost for the project, even after the Jala Sakthi ministry cleared the same.
In the Union Budget, the finance minister announced over Rs 50,000 crore worth infra projects for Bihar under various heads, of which the entire amount will be met by the Center. But, no such a single scheme was announced for the AP.
Already the YS Jaganmohan Reddy regime pushed the state into debt crisis and if the Center aimed to provide more loans for Amaravati capital, it would be the most complex burden on the state government.
Though BJP MPs D Purandeswari and CM Ramesh claimed that this would be a grant for the state, even after presenting the budget, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman failed to give a clarity. She said that the center has the responsibility of supporting Amaravati capital. However, she said that whether Rs 15,000 will be in the form of grant or a loan will be decided later.