Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh government has decided to seek “special category status” for the state for 15 years. This was disclosed by AP finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu after assuming office at the Secretariat here on Sunday.
AP Secretariat, which has been witnessing a lull with no government activity following bifurcation of state, was abuzz with activity on Sunday with two ministers in the Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet taking charge.
While Yanamala took charge as finance and legislative affairs minister, Palle Raghunatha Reddy assumed office as information technology and I&PR minister.
Speaking to reporters on the occasion, Mr Yanamala said that as finance minister he was starting on a challenging note with AP having a Budget deficit of over Rs 15,000 crore and his priority was to convince the Centre to bear revenue deficit for at least four years.
He added that raising revenue without levying taxes on the people and cutting down unproductive expenditure were among the priorities of the government.
Yanamala said, “You all know about the weak financial condition of AP following bifurcation of the state. We are beginning with a deficit Budget of over Rs 15,000 crore for this year. However, the Centre has agreed to bear the entire revenue deficit this year. But this is not sufficient as it is not possible to find new revenue resources to bridge this deficit within a year."
"We want the Centre to bear the revenue deficit at least for the next four years. We also want special category status for AP for 15 years since tax holidays and other incentives are necessary to rebuild the state from scratch. including capital city. We will soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and seek their approval,” Mr Yanamala said.
He admitted that there is heavy financial pressure on the TD government on account of various poll promises such as waiver of crop loans, Dwcra loans etc.
“Yes, we are walking a tightrope. We need to fulfil all the promises that were made during elections. At the same time, we need to strike a balance between revenues and expenditure. We should also take all the precautions to see that common people are not burdened with taxes. We have no plans to impose fresh taxes or increase existing taxes to mobilise financial resources,” he said.
