AP CM seeks Rs 17,060 cr 'dues' from Centre, continued support to deal with COVID-19 pandemic

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Centre requesting that it immediately release a sum of Rs 17,060.94 crore that was due to the state under various heads.

During his two-day trip to New Delhi, the Chief Minister conferred with Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning.

A release from the Chief Ministers Office here said Jagan raised various state issues with Shah and sought the latter support "to continue to respond effectively to the evolving COVID-19 crisis." "The fiscal stress has aggravated manifold on account of the drying up of revenues due to the inevitable lockdown measures, the reduced quantum of transfer of Central taxes in this fiscal and the increase in expenditure necessitated by the need to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, he told the Home Minister.

The Chief Minister presented a list of grants pending to the state from the Centre and requested that they be released forthwith.

The grants include Rs 2,253.52 crore for rural and urban local bodies (14th Finance Commission), Rs 3,622.07 crore GST compensation, Rs 700 crore development assistance to backward districts, Rs 1,000 crore for capital city development, Rs 1,600 crore rice subsidy, Rs 138.39 crore revenue deficit grant and Rs 3,740.53 crore under MGNREGS, the release said.

Besides, Rs 4,006.43 crore has to be reimbursed for the Polavaram irrigation project works.

Referring to the revenue deficit grant that has been a point of conflict between the Centre and the state, the Chief Minister pleaded that release of the balance amount of Rs 18,830.87 crore, as approved by the CAG and claimed by the state government, may also be kindly considered sympathetically.

On Polavaram, he requested that appropriate steps be taken to approve the revised project cost and also authorise NABARD for raising the credit to Rs 18,000 crore in the current financial year.

The process of release may be streamlined by authorising NABARD to open a direct line of credit as Revolving Fund with the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), as it is difficult for the state government to keep giving money in advance and claiming reimbursement, Jagan said.

The Chief Minister also met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the Polavaram issue and made the same request.

Jagan said a sum of Rs 18,000 crore would be required by the end of March 2021 for completion of the Polavaram works, including rehabilitation and resettlement of the project displaced families.

Citing various rules, the Chief Minister wanted the Jal Shakti Minister to release funds for Polavaram upfront to reduce the burden on the precarious finances of the state.

(Image: PTI)