Andhra Pradesh Presents Rs 2.86 Lakh Crore Interim Budget

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath on Wednesday presented an interim Budget of Rs 2,86,389.27 crore. The outlay is about 2.5 percent higher than the previous year. The budget size for 2023-24 was Rs 2,79,279 crore. The revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 2,30,110.41 crore, and the capital expenditure is Rs 30,530 crore.

The estimated revenue deficit is around Rs 24,758.18 crore and the fiscal deficit is estimated at around Rs 55,817 crore. Presenting the last Budget of the YSRCP government before the election, Rajendranath said the fiscal deficit will be around 3.51 percent of the GSDP, whereas the revenue deficit will be around 1.56 percent of the GSDP. (Also Read: BharatPe Faces Government Inquiry Amidst Legal Turmoil)

In his Budget speech in the Assembly, he said the revenue deficit was Rs 44,487.49 crore and fiscal deficit Rs 52,508.34 crore during FY 2022-23.

"The revenue and fiscal deficit were 3.30 percent and 3.98 percent of the GSDP, respectively, for FY 2022-23," he said, referring to finance accounts finalized by the Accountant General of Andhra Pradesh.

The revised estimate for revenue expenditure for FY 2023-24 was Rs 2,28,237.77 crore, whereas the capital expenditure was Rs 27,308.12 crore. The revenue deficit for 2023-24 was around Rs 31,534.94 crore, whereas the fiscal deficit for the same period was around Rs. 60,153.59 crore, which amounts to 2.19 percent and 4.18 percent of the GSDP, respectively.

He presented a vote on account Budget of Rs 88,215 crore for 2024-25. The amount would be utilized until the new government presents a full Budget after the Assembly elections. Allocations for various welfare schemes have been given priority in the Budget.

About welfare schemes, the Minister said the government spent Rs. 2.53 lakh crore through DBT (direct benefit transfer) and Rs.1.68 lakh crore through non-DBT from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

As a result of this lakhs of families have escaped poverty, uplifted their standard of living, and availed new opportunities for growth and development, he said, noting that this is exemplified by the fact that, the per-capita income (NSDP) of Andhra Pradesh has shown a quantum jump from Rs 1,54,031 in 2018-19 to Rs 2,19,518 in 2022-23 and the rank has improved to 9th from 18th.

He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh in 2018-19, ranked 14th in terms of GSDP growth rate which was 11 per cent. In 2022-23, it was placed fourth with a GSDP growth rate of 16.2 percent.

"Andhra Pradesh is categorised as a 'Top Achiever' in Ease of Doing Business under the Business Reform Action Plan for 2020-21. Andhra Pradesh in 2018-19, ranked 12th in terms of the agricultural sector CAGR of 8.3 percent. Today, we rank 6th with a CAGR of 13 percent. Andhra Pradesh is the first and only state to achieve universal coverage of farmers under the Dr YSR Free Crop Insurance scheme," he said.

Referring to bifurcation, the Finance Minister said the state suffered a grievous wound in 2014 but the previous government did not take any substantive measures to amicably resolve the issues or to get rightful entitlements of the state when time was appropriate.