Naidu pleads for Central grant of Rs.10K crore as special assistance

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu returned to Amaravati after a two-day whirlwind tour to Delhi during which he held talks with his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy on inter-State water disputes, released a report prepared by the Task Force on Economic Development on Swarnandhra Vision 2047 set up in collaboration with CII and submit several representations to the Union Ministers on the need to grant special assistance to Andhra Pradesh.

The talks with Revanth Reddy convened by Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil at a time when the differences between the two Telugu-speaking States over Polavaram-Banakacharla Link Project took a political twist yielded a positive result with both of them deciding to resolve the differences by setting up an administrative and technical committee.

Interestingly, both the States agreed follow telemetry at reservoirs, discussed repairs and protection measures of the Srisailam project and followed the advice of the experts. While the Krishna Board will be set up at Amaravati, the Godavari Board will continue in Hyderabad. While Revanth Reddy after the discussions said Banakacharla didn't figure in the talks, AP Irrigation Minister Nimmala Rama Naidu said all the water disputes will be dealt with the proposed committee for settlement over across the table discussions.

During his meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, AP Chief Minister asked her to sanction an additional Rs. 10,000 crore for the State in the 2025-26 financial year under the Special Assistance to States on Capital Investment (SASCI). During his second-day visit to Delhi, the Chief Minister met Sitharaman and submitted a memorandum requesting financial support for various state projects.

He also appealed to the 16th Finance Commission to approve the AP Government’s plea to bridge the revenue deficit. The Chief Minister highlighted that the State continues to face financial constraints due to the bifurcation. He informed Sitharaman that the construction of Amaravati requires a total of Rs.79,280 crore, with works worth Rs..44,351 crore already underway. However, Rs.26,000 crore remains unallocated and emphasised the need for additional funds to complete the capital’s development and requested that the second tranche of aid for Amaravati be disbursed as a grant.

At the report release function attended by Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekharan, Co-Chairperson of AP Task Force and CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee, Naidu said AP now ranks fourth in the EIU's list of top investment destination and asked the investors to look at AP for their future projects. He said the State had already attracted investments worth Rs.10 lakh crore generating 8.5 lakh jobs.

Referring to Swarnandhra Vision 2047 to transform the State into a $2.14 trillion economy, he said three academic hubs are being developed in Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Tirupati to foster innovation. "Amaravati will be the world's best city in futuristic amenities," he declared.