the State Legislative Assembly before July 31, so that the government could incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State." width="" />The TDP-led NDA government focuses on clearing pending bills and expediting key projects like Polavaram.
the State Legislative Assembly before July 31, so that the government could incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State." width="" />
The full budget was to be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly before July 31, so that the government could incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State. File Photo
Updated on : 02 Aug 2024, 3:01 am 2 min readVIJAYAWADA: A major chunk of allocations in the vote-on-account budget for four months (August to November) promulgated in the form of an ordinance on July 31, was made to irrigation, social welfare, municipal administration, education, Roads & Buildings and other key sectors.
Though the full budget was to be tabled in the State Legislative Assembly before July 31, so that the government could incur expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State from August 1, 2024, the TDP-led NDA government opted for the vote-on-account as the State finances are being sorted out.
In the Andhra Pradesh Appropriation (Vote-on-Account No. 2) Ordinance, 2024 with an outlay of Rs 1.29 lakh crore for four months (August 1 to November 30), grants for 40 government departments were earmarked.
Compared to Rs 3,765.83 crore advance grants sought for the major and medium irrigation projects in the vote-on-account for the first four months (April to July) of the current fiscal by the previous YSRC regime, the present NDA government earmarked Rs 12,658.18 crore for capital expenditure, and another Rs 799.77 crore for revenue expenditure.
In case of minor irrigation projects , the amount earmarked in the latest vote-on-account was Rs 650.32 crore for capital expenditure, and Rs 34.36 crore for revenue expenditure.
Substantial MAUD funds to be used for Amaravati
“In the vote-on-account budget, no specific allocations are made to any particular sector. The amount allocated is meant to meet the immediate needs for the given period, in this case four months. Only in the annual budget, specific allocations are made,” said a senior official of the Water Resources Department.
According to sources, a substantial portion of the capex earmarked for major irrigation will be to clear the pending bills, so that there is no interruption in the ongoing works. Focus will be on Polavaram project as the Centre has promised to expedite the project works. The works of the Left Main Canal of Polavaram project are expected to be expedited in the coming days.
At the same time, funds will be utilised to strengthen the flood banks of Godavari and Krishna rivers, and other canals as it is flood season.
Compared to Rs 3,182.19 crore sought as advance for the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department in the previous vote-on-account, the current dispensation earmarked Rs 4,425 crore as capital expenditure, and Rs 3,550.5 crore as revenue expenditure.
“The State government has to infuse funds into the capital region Amaravati, which was neglected by the previous dispensation. To commence works, the water stagnated at various works that were left incomplete, needs to be drained out first, which itself requires a substantial amount. With the sanction of Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati by the Centre, the State government is eager to commence the works at the earliest, and a substantial amount of the funds earmarked for the MAUD in the vote-on-account budget are likely to be used for the purpose,” sources said.
A total of Rs 15,140 crore was earmarked for the welfare sector, which includes social, BC, tribal and minority welfare, and the sum is higher than what the previous dispensation sought in advance in the previous vote-on-account budget. Such higher allocation was necessitated to implement various promises made to the people during the run up to elections, the sources added.
