Centre releases Rs 1269 crore grant for Andhra Pradesh

As the political ties between BJP and TDP seem to be deteriorating with each passing day, the centre, over the past few days, has released a grant of Rs 1269 crore under several heads, for the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Reportedly, the centre released 417.44 crores, included in the gross grant, for the Polavaram project, which had no mention in the recently announced Union Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. This grant comes as a reimbursement for the Rs 3,217.63 crore spent by the state over this much-deemed project.

“The release (of Rs 417.44 crore) is towards the amount already utilised by the state against the irrigation component (of Polavaram) after April 1, 2014,” Union water resources ministry’s senior joint commissioner, R P S Verma, was quoted as saying.

While the state government has spent an amount of Rs 7200 crore on the Polavaram project, the centre, thus far, has reimbursed an amount of Rs 4329 crore to the state.

The centre also released Rs 369.16 crore to Andhra Pradesh last night, under post-devolution revenue deficit grant, as per the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission.

The government also released a sum of Rs 253.74 crore and Rs 196.92 crore, for the purposes of the state’s urban local bodies and  Anganwadi services scheme and the supplementary nutrition programme respectively. Also, it has been learned that another Rs 31.76 crore was released for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.

In addition to the Special Railway Zone, the state government had also urged the centre to release funds for the purposes of Amaravati, Kadapa Steel Plant and a railway division for the stretch between Vijayawada and Guntakal. The centre, however, hasn’t allocated “sufficient funds” and the leaders feel, the Modi government has handed over a “betrayal” to the people of Andhra Pradesh. Not mentioning the Polavaram project in the budget was another reason that had irked the state’s MPs.