AP Budget focuses on infrastructure

Hyderabad, July 24 :-

Finance Minister Mr K Rosaiah on Friday presented full State Budget in the Assembly for 2009-10, his 15th overall and seventh in a row, that leaned heavily on infrastructure development works.

The budget is tax-free and, like last year, the total outlay has crossed the one-lakh mark. However, the Rs. 1.03-lakh crore budget is out of line with the average growth rate of 20 per cent witnessed in the previous years (44 per cent last year). Most importantly, the planned expenditure is Rs 40,184 crore and a hefty increase of Rs 63,301 crore in the non-plan outlay.

Allocation to key programmes like Jalayagnam, Rajiv Aarogyasri, Abhayahastam and Indiramma Illu have been given lion share of funds like the 2008’s full budget.

In spite of the Global slow down, Finance Minister Rosaiah still expects the growth rate to be above the national average.

He said the budget targets to achieve an annual growth rate of nine per cent. The Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s flagship programme, ‘Jalayagnam’ for constructing 74 irrigation projects during his tenure, has been given top priority by allotting Rs 17,800 crore in the budget.

Mr Rosaiah attributed the shrinkage in the plan outlay, one indicator of the State’s financial health, to the global slowdown. This, he said, had impacted revenue accruals.

Amid applause from the Treasury Benches, the Finance Minister announced an increase in the outlays for sops already announced by the Congress government. He earmarked a sum of Rs. 6,040 crore for power consumers and Rs 3,500 crore for the public distribution system (PDS) for supply of rice at Rs 2 a kg and other essential commodities at concessional rates.

Similarly, an amount of Rs 925 crore has been provided for Arogyasri, health insurance scheme.