Vijaywada: The Union government’s decision to approve the budgetary support under Goods and Service Tax regime for the eligible industrial units located in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and North Eastern states, including Sikkim has irked the government of AP.
Despite the growing demand to implement the bifurcation assurances for AP, the Union government has ignored AP, senior bureaucrats feel. A high-level meeting to be held in a couple of days at Amaravati will highlight the facts about the status of the industries in AP and bring it to the notice of the Union Government.
Rs 27,412 crore budgetary support has been extended to the states mentioned above, according to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
Analysing the same, a senior bureaucrat said he was amazed at how the Union government continued to ignore the rightful demands of AP, as per the bifurcation assurances.
“Where is the DPR for Mumbai metro and what was the urgency in announcing Rs 17,000 crore budgetary support to Karnataka,” he asked and added that Andhra Pradesh is a new-born state, awaiting industrial incentives and support from the Centre.
“In my 30 years of career as a civil servant, I have never seen such a pathetic situation like the one AP government is facing now,” the bureaucrat observed.
“In fact, the Union government has been implementing North East Industrial and Investment Policy (NEIIPP) 2017 for north eastern states including Sikkim and package for Special Category States for Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to promote industrialisation. When AP is also working on the lines of promoting industrialisation in a big way, why is the Centre is not implementing the bifurcation assurances,” asks the bureaucrat, adding, “I am completely baffled by this attitude of the Centre.”
