Andhra Pradesh government is currently working on presenting the full budget for the year 2024-25 next month, and the total outlay will cross ₹3 lakh crore.

The NDA government earlier decided to defer the full budget in view of the “confusion and financial disorder’‘ created by the previous YSR Congress Party government, led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, which lost the mandate in the general elections held in May. 

Subsequently, the new government issued an ordinance in July for a second vote-on-account budget for ₹1.30 lakh crore for a period of four months. 

In February, Jagan Reddy’s government presented the first vote-on-account budget of ₹2.86 lakh crore ahead of the elections and obtained approval from the State Assembly for the sanction of ₹1.09 lakh crore for the first four months of the fiscal.

“In effect, the two vote-on-account budgets provided for ₹2.39 lakh crore for the first eight months of the current fiscal, which leaves only ₹61,000 crore out of ₹2.86 lakh crore as per the first vote-on-account budget of February,’‘ a senior official told businessline. 

With the welfare-cum-development approach of the new NDA government and its poll promises, the Finance Department is working on giving a totally new orientation to the upcoming full budget proposals.

“Apart from the burden of the ‘Super Six’ welfare schemes, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on the completion of the Polavaram Project and resuming the construction of the new greenfield capital project, Amaravati. The budget will also factor in these priorities,’‘ the official said. 

Though the Centre had already promised to facilitate a ₹15,000 crore loan from multilateral agencies for Amaravati, the State government is exploring new avenues for wealth creation and to augment revenue recourses. 

The recent floods, which caused heavy damage to crops, property, and physical infrastructure in the State, also imposed unexpected financial stress on the State Exchequer. 

The budget outlay for 2023-24 was ₹2.79 lakh crore.

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