AP urges Centre to clear Rs 9,164 crore dues immediately

The cash-starved Andhra Pradesh government has requested the Centre to immediately release Rs 9,164 crore under various heads, due to the state for several years. Despite borrowing heavily from different sources, the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government is finding it very difficult to foot the bill for numerous freebie schemes and has faced trouble even in disbursing salaries in time this month.

The state has now sent a plea to the Centre, through the ruling YSR Congress MPs, that all old dues amounting to Rs 9,164.08 crore be released forthwith. The dues are Rs 3,232.41 crore towards reimbursement of Polavaram irrigation project expenditure, GST compensation of Rs 3,622.07 crore, rice subsidy of Rs 1,728 crore and 14th Finance Commission grants to urban local bodies (ULBs) of Rs 581.60 crore.

In a detailed memorandum presented to the Centre, the state pointed out that it had already submitted the audit report on Polavaram project expenditure prior to March 31, 2014 and as such the pending reimbursement of Rs 3,232.41 crore be done immediately. It also wanted the Jal Shakti Ministry to approve the revised estimates for Polavaram, which the ministry itself determined to be Rs 47,725.74 crore.

The state government said the GST compensation was due (in parts) for the financial years 2017-18 and 2019-20 and further more up to June 2020. The deleterious impact of the (coronavirus) pandemic is compounded in the case of Andhra Pradesh where finances were already stressed due to post-bifurcation structural issues of the economy.

"In this context, timely release of GST compensation (amounting to Rs 3,622 crore) has become very important for the state," Chief Minister Jagan said in a recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The state said it owed payments to farmers under minimum support price operations while payments were due to the cooperatives and self-help groups for handling paddy purchases. Release of the pending Rs 1,728 crore food subsidy to the AP Civil Supplies Corporation will help in clearing the pending payments, it said.

Referring to the Rs 3,635.80 grant of the 14th Finance Commission to ULBs for improvement of urban services and civic infrastructure, the AP government said a sum of Rs 581.60 crore was still pending release from the Centre. We have submitted the required utilisation certificates and also demonstrated compliance for all reforms stipulated by the Finance Commission, the state government informed the Centre and sought an early release of the pending grant. 

(Image Credits: PTI)