Andhra Pradesh Annual Budget Of Rs 2.79 Lakh Crore Focuses On Welfare, Development

Riding fresh on the success of the Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit, the Finance Minister of the state Buggana Rajendranath tabled the annual budget of Rs 2,79,279 Crores in the state assembly. This year’s budget has a record low fiscal deficit pegged at 1.54 per cent. 

Presenting the budget, the finance minister Rajendranath said that the revenue expenditure was at Rs 2,28,540 crore, capital expenditure at Rs 31,061 crore, revenue deficit at Rs 22,316 crore, financial deficit at Rs 54,587 crore, revenue deficit in GSDP at 3.77 per cent and fiscal deficit 1.54 per cent.

Pegging it as a budget of the people, the AP budget puts maximum focus on the welfare schemes initiated by the chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. The state government has allocated Rs 21,434.72 crore for social security pensions and Rs 4020 crore for YSR Rythu bharosa scheme. 

It may be recalled that the Andhra Pradesh government has made Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mandatory for most of the welfare schemes of the state. In his budget speech, Rajendranath said that the budgetary allocations for 22 Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, including YSR Pension Kanuka, YSR Ruthu Bharosa, Amma Vodi, EBC Nestam, YSR Fasal Bima Yojana etc is Rs 54,228.36 crore. This is an increase of 10 per cent against Rs 48,882 crore in 2022-23 and gets the lion’s share in the budget. 

Apart from welfare schemes, the AP budget also focuses on urban development, roads and buildings. The recently concluded Andhra Pradesh Global Investors Summit saw the state signing 378 MoUs with some of the biggest investors from the country, amounting to Rs 13.42 lakh crore. The state’s IT and industries minister Gudivada Amarnath had told Businessworld that this was much ahead of the state’s expectations. The AP annual budget for 2023-24 made it clear that the CM Jagan Mohan Reddy is all set to rebuild the state. 

There has been a 6.6 per cent increase in allocation for Municipal Administration & Urban Development in Budget 2023-24, compared to 2022-23. The current budget allocates Rs Rs 9,381 crore under this segment. Meanwhile, for the roads and building department, the budget witnesses an increase of 6.2 per cent compared to 2022-23. For the fiscal 2023-24, the allocation is Rs 9,118 crore. 

For the education sector, the budget saw an increase of 7 per cent at Rs 32,198 crore, 3.2 per cent increase in allocation for the Health sector at Rs 15,882 crore and 3 per cent increase in allocation for the Agriculture sector at Rs14,043 crore.