AP Chambers Welcome Budget 2024-25 with Reservations

AP Chambers appreciates the 2024-25 Union Budget allocations for Andhra Pradesh but seeks more financial details. Rs 15,000 crore is allocated for Amaravati's development, and additional funds are promised for infrastructure and backward areas. However, detailed funding specifics are lacking, particularly for the Polavaram project.

The Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers) on Tuesday welcomed the 2024-25 Union Budget allocations for the state but noted a lack of financial specifics.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 15,000 crore as special financial support for the development of the capital city Amaravati and vowed a full commitment to completing the Polavaram irrigation project, as well as promising funds to improve infrastructure and develop backward areas.

Sitharaman promised funds for essential infrastructure such as power, water, and railways in the Kopparthi node of the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, as stated in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Similar emphasis will be given to the Orvakal node of the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

The finance minister also highlighted additional allocations for capital investment to promote economic growth. However, she did not provide specific funding details for the Polavaram project or for infrastructure and backward areas in Rayalaseema and North Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

AP Chambers President P Bhaskar Rao appreciated the mention of Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget for the first time since the state's bifurcation and the allocation of Rs 15,000 crore for Amaravati. Still, he noted the absence of detailed financial information.

AP Chambers Treasurer S Akkaiah Naidu highlighted that the state has awaited Andhra Pradesh-specific allocations for a decade.

The budget announced the creation of 100 industrial parks nationwide, and Rao indicated that Andhra Pradesh should aim to secure some of these parks. However, despite the state's need for a Rs 1 lakh crore soft loan to develop, there were no announcements on this front, nor an increase in fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) limits.

AP Chambers Taxation Committee Chairman N Ravi Kishore welcomed the import duty waiver on three cancer medicines and appreciated the reduction in import duty on mobile phones and chargers.

Rao concluded that the budget focused on agriculture, employment generation, skilling, infrastructure, education, and health, which would support the state's and the nation's progress.