Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister B Rajendranath on Wednesday tabled a vote-on-account budget of Rs 2.86 lakh crore for fiscal 2024-25 in the Legislative Assembly here, with a revenue expenditure of Rs 2.30 lakh crore.
The Finance Minister estimated the capital expenditure for fiscal 2024-25 at Rs 30,530 crore and pegged the revenue deficit at Rs 24,758 crore.
He projected the fiscal deficit to be around Rs 55,817 crore, which would be 3.51 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) while revenue deficit would be around 1.56 per cent.
Further, the FM said the state incurred a revenue expenditure of Rs 2.28 lakh crore in the previous fiscal (2023-24), along with a capital expenditure of Rs 27,308 crore.
Citing the revised estimates for fiscal 2023-24, Rajendranath said the revenue deficit was Rs 31,534 crore, along with a fiscal deficit of Rs 60,154 crore.
In terms of percentage, revenue deficit amounted to 2.19 per cent of the GSDP while the fiscal deficit was 4.18 per cent.
Considering the interim nature of the budget ahead of the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, Rajendranath did not delve into the granular details such as department-wise or scheme-specific financial allocations.
Rajendranath, who presented the budgets for the past five years in Andhra Pradesh quoted historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, F D Roosevelt, Mahatama Gandhi and others inspiring personalities in his budget speech to drive home the message, mostly themed on welfare.
He also highlighted the YSRCP government’s welfare measures in the past five years.
The Finance Minister averred that the establishment of 15,004 village and ward secretariats has ensured last mile delivery of welfare schemes and citizen-centric services in a seamless and transparent manner.
Administrative restructuring resulted in the creation of 26 districts from 13 and the rise of revenue divisions from 52 to 77, he added.
Rajendranath pointed out that Rs 2.53 lakh crore was spent on direct benefit transfer (DBT) schemes between 2019 and 2024, including non-DBT welfare expenditure of Rs 1.68 lakh crore, amounting to Rs 4.21 lakh crore in total.
“Due to the DBT regime of our government, lakhs of families have escaped poverty, uplifted their standard of living, and availed new opportunities for growth and development.” In his address, the Minister also referred to the quantum of money spent on various schemes such as YSR Nethanna Nestham, and others in the past five years, including on infrastructure, ports, energy, MSMEs and others.
Earlier, Rajendranath asserted that the welfare of the poor in the state was the main goal of the vote-on-account budget.
Claiming that Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was the only CM who regarded the election manifesto as a holy scripture and implemented it, he said, “We could have done more developmental work if not for Covid-19 and a better financial situation.” According to the Finance Minister, the YSRC government did more than what was required for the poor and downtrodden.
In the previous budgets, Rajendranath underscored that education, health, women’s empowerment and agriculture were given top priority.
Earlier, the state Cabinet approved the vote-on-account budget for 2024-25 under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
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