VIJAYAWADA: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the revenue deficit of Andhra Pradesh during 2019-20 was substantially higher than the Budget Estimates of Rs 1,779 crore due to introduction of new schemes such as ‘Amma Vodi’ and ‘YSR Nine Hours free supply’.
Replying to a question raised by the BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao in the Rajya Sabha, Nirmala Sitharaman said as per the CAG’s Audit Report for the year ended March 31, 2020, the State government’s failure to assess its revenues realistically and lack of efforts in containing the revenue expenditure led to increase in revenue deficit of Andhra Pradesh despite receipt of ‘Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant’ for the entire award period of the 14th Finance Commission and the award period of 2020-21 of the 15th Finance Commission from the Centre.
The increase in revenue deficit during 2016-17 when compared to 2015-16 was mainly due to the expenditure incurred by the State towards takeover of loans of DISCOMs as per the guidelines of Ujwal DISCOMs Assurance Yojana (UDAY Scheme), the Finance minister said.