Days after rejecting the special status to Bihar, the government has rewarded its two prominent allies in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar with a bunch of growth measures in the Budget 2024-25. To begin with, the government has facilitated the financial support for AP’s new capital Amaravati. The support will be funnelled through multilateral development agencies, and Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged in the current financial year with more funds to be mobilised in the later years.
To boost the infrastructure in the state, the FM said that the government is fully committed to financing and early completion of the Polavaram Irrigation Project, which acts as a lifeline for the farmers of AP.
“This will facilitate our country’s food security as well,” she said. The southern state is expected to get funds for two corridors — Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor — to develop essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads. “An additional allocation will be provided this year towards capital investment for economic growth. Grants for backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra will be provided,” the FM said.
Commenting on the special aids, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the support from the centre will go a long way towards rebuilding Andhra Pradesh. “On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, I thank the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for recognising the needs of our state and focussing on the capital, Polavaram, industrial nodes and development of backward areas in AP in the union Budget of FY2023-25,” he tweeted. The support to Bihar is focussed on road connectivity, power, airports, medical colleges, sports infrastructure and promotion of tourist destinations. Four road connectivity projects with an estimated cost of Rs 26,000 crore have been announced. A new 2400-megawatts power plant will be set up at Pirpainti at a total cost of Rs 21,400 crore.
“The requests of Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited. Our government, through the accelerated irrigation benefit programme and other sources, will provide financial support for projects with estimated cost of Rs 11,500 crore such as the Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other ongoing and new schemes including barrages, river pollution abatement and irrigation projects,” Sitharaman said.
In total, the Budget has provided Rs 58,900 crore of support to Bihar. While both states have been asking for special status for a long time, experts said that the support will go a long way in correcting the disparity in the economic development of some of the eastern states. “The financial aid given to the two ally states is part of a broader plan to develop Eastern part of the country. Irrespective of the political economic connotations of these announcements, there’s a need to improve the state of Eastern states which are languishing in key economic parameters,” said DK Srivastava, chief policy advisor, EY.