Union Budget: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces RS 15,000 crore help for Amaravati

VIJAYAWADA: The financially beleaguered Andhra Pradesh has got a major boost in the union budget with the announcement of Rs 15,000 crore financial assistance to capital city Amaravati.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the budget on Tuesday that the central govt has recognised the need for a capital for Andhra Pradesh and it will facilitate special funding through multilateral agencies.Sitharaman also announced financial help to Polavaram, special grants to backward districts and funds for Kopparthi and Orvakal industrial nodes.
This financial assistance came as a shot in the arm for Andhra Pradesh, which is presently in dire financial situation. The greenfield capital city Amaravati was planned and designed post bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh by then TDP govt, but it was abandoned by the previous YSRCP govt for the last five years.
After 10 years of state bifurcation, the union govt has made major fund allocation which is 10 times of earlier allotment made during 2014-19. The YSRCP govt which proposed three capitals formula completely stopped the works and did not ask for funds' allocation from union govt.
Apart from Amaravati, Polavaram project also got a renewed assurance from the union govt as Sitharaman said in the budget speech that the Centre is fully committed for financing the project and also for its early completion.
Naidu says central assistance will go a long way in rebuilding AP
Another promise that was made in the reorganization Act was to give special grants on the lines of Bundekhund package, to the backward districts of Rayalaseema and north Andhra.
Though ?50 crore funds per district per year have been given for four years after 2014, it was stopped for various reasons. The finance minister announced that special grants will be given to these districts again, which will help the state govt to take up infrastructure works in backward areas.
The Central govt also promised funds to Kopparti and Orvakal industrial nodes as part of the development of Visakhapatnam-Chennai and Bangalore-Hyderabad industrial corridors.
Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, deputy chief minister K Pawan Kalyan and minister for IT and HRD, Nara Lokesh welcomed the union budget and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman for recognising the needs of Andhra Pradesh.
Naidu said that this assistance and commitment by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) govt will go a long way towards rebuilding of Andhra Pradesh.
Lokesh termed it as a new sunrise for Andhra Pradesh. He said that the struggles of Andhra Pradesh people have been recognised and a special and holistic package has been provided covering all important areas like industrial growth, infrastructure, irrigation and HRD. Today will be marked as a red-letter day in the new state's history. "This is the first step towards our march together to building a state of our dreams," said Lokesh on X.