HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government’s efforts to get some more funds from the Centre seem to have borne fruit for now with Union Finance Minister reportedly assuring Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that the Centre will release `3,000 crore to the State before March 31.
According to sources, Arun Jaitley spoke to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over phone on Tuesday morning and informed him that the Centre had decided to release `1,000 crore for the construction of the new capital city. Jaitley also told Naidu that `1,000 crore would be released for the construction of Polavaram Irrigation Project in addition to the `100 crore already allocated in the Union budget.
“The Union Finance Minister further told the Chief Minister that the Centre has also decided to release `1,000 crore to AP to make it overcome revenue deficit,” said the sources.
Sources added that during the telephonic conversation, the Union Finance Minister promised Naidu that the Centre would be releasing more financial aid to the State to construct the new capital once it went through the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Earlier in the day, while speaking in the Assembly, Chief Minister Naidu, interestingly, refrained from criticising the Centre for not making proper allocations to the cash-starved AP in the Union budget, a practice which he has been adopting for the past few days.
Responding to the allegations of YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy that the TDP is not exerting pressure on the Centre to get AP’s due from the Centre, Chief Minister said he was in touch with the Centre and would not rest till it fulfilled all promises made to the State in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.