Andhra Pradesh receives `3,796 cr interest-free loan from Centre in FY23

Vijayawada: Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Tuesday said under a 50-year interest free loan, the Centre has given Rs 3,796 crore.

In response to a question by Rajya Sabha MP G V L Narasimha Rao, the Minister informed that Andhra Pradesh has received a sanction of Rs 3,796 crore for the year 2022-23 out of the total amount of Rs 85,877 crore sanctioned to 28 States in the country as part of the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment.

This was against the budget announcement by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman offering to provide Rs 1 lakh crore as long-term, 50 year interest-free loans to the State Governments. Loan amount for different States was allocated in proportion to their share of tax devolution for 2022-23 and the fund has to be only utilised for the purpose for which it is sanctioned, the Union Minister informed.

The bulk of the amount sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh was for capital investments in the education and health sectors. A whopping sum of Rs 1,738 crore has been sanctioned for the implementation of the school infrastructure improvement project “Mana Badi Nadu Nedu” phase-2 in all the 26 districts of Andhra Pradesh. Another Rs 1500 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of buildings and purchase of equipment in government medical colleges and construction of a second PHC building in most of the districts, the Minister said.

The remaining amount of Rs 554 crore was approved for industrial water supply and infrastructure projects in the YSR district and optical fibre cable projects across all districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Commenting on the substantial financial assistance to the State Government, Narasimha Rao said that the expenditure on social infrastructure in the State on government schools under Nadu Nedu, primary health centres, and medical colleges is mainly due to generous financial assistance by the Narendra Modi-led Central Government.

Thanking the Prime Minister for massive assistance to Andhra Pradesh for capital investments in health and education sectors, the MP pointed out that all visible development in Andhra Pradesh is largely due to Central assistance to the State under various schemes and projects as the State Government is ‘bankrupt’ and has faltered even on salary payments to its employees.