Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy on Monday presented a Rs. 1,61,348-crore budget for the financial year 2013-14.
Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy on Monday presented a Rs. 1,61,348-crore budget for the financial year 2013-14. While non-plan expenditure is estimated at Rs. 1,01,926 crores, plan expenditure will be Rs. 59,422 crores.
The estimated revenue surplus is Rs. 10,023 crores, while the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs. 24,487 crore, at 2.85% of GSDP.
Presenting his 3rd budget in the State Legislative Assembly, the Finance Minister expressed confidence that the budget would infuse new energy into the strategy of inclusive growth of the state. "It will usher in an era of accelerated growth of critical infrastructure in the economy, and of human development indicators of all sections of people in the state," he said.
Anam said that the Gross State Domestic Product of Andhra Pradesh at current prices for the year 2012-13 as per latest estimates was Rs. 7,38,497 crores, an increase of 12.72% over the quick estimates of the GSDP of the previous year. At constant (2004-05) prices, the GSDP for 2012-13 is estimated to be Rs. 4,26,470 crores - a growth of 5.29% over the previous year.
The per capita income of the state at current prices for the year 2012-13 (advance estimate) is set at Rs. 77,277 as against Rs. 68,970 during 2011-12, showing an increase of 12%. "In fact, the per capita income has more than tripled in a span of nine years - from Rs. 25,321 in 2004-05 to Rs. 77,277 by 2012-13, reflecting a definite positive impact of the developmental programmes on the standards of living of the people," the Finance Minister said.
The Finance Minister informed that Andhra Pradesh leads amongst all the states and union territories with the largest projected outlay of over Rs. 3,42,842 crore for the 12th Five Year Plan, accounting nearly for over 9.2% of the total outlay of all the states / UTs. The state has optimistically targeted to attain sectoral growth of six per cent for Agriculture, 10.5 per cent for Industry and 11.5 per cent for Services leading to an overall growth target of 10 per cent for the 12th Plan.
A provision of Rs 6,128 crore has been made for Agriculture and Allied Sectors. An allocation of Rs 500 crore is made to help farmers repay crop loans of Rabi last year. Rs 100 crore will also be spent for the development of Food Processing Sector.
An allocation of Rs 4,122 crore has been made for Social Welfare Department. The allocation has been increased by Rs 1,455 crore over Rs 2,677 crore allocated in the year 2012-13. He also announced that a new scheme, "Rajeev Deevena" will entitle pre-Matric Scholarship to about three lakh eligible SC Students at the rate of Rs 150 per student per month for Day Scholars and Rs 350 per month per student for Hostelers from the year 2013-14.
Under the economic support schemes, government is implementing the SC action plan so as to provide assistance to 66,213 beneficiaries with an outlay of Rs 423.86 crore. "This is the highest ever plan outlay of the SC Corporation since its inception.
The government proposes to spend Rs 2,126 crore for Tribal Welfare Department. The allocation is enhanced by Rs 574 crore in the budget 2013-14 over the corresponding allocation of Rs 1,552 crore last year.
A provision of Rs 4,027 crore has been proposed for the Backward Class Welfare in 2013-14 as against Rs 3,014 crore last year.
The budget for Minorities Welfare has been more than double at Rs 1.027 crore from Rs 488 crore provided last year. The government has allocated Rs 2,712 crore for Women and Child Welfare, Rs 73 crore for Disabled Welfare, Rs 280 crore for Youth Services, Rs 163 crore on Tourism and Rs 69 crore for Culture.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh stands first in the country in providing pucca houses to the deserving poor both in rural and urban areas, the Finance Minister informed that a provision of Rs 2,326 crore has been made for the Housing sector this year.
An amount of Rs 3,231 crore has been allocated for Civil Supplies, Rs 11,200 crore for Integrated Rural Development, Rs 6,6770 for Urban Development, Rs 6,481 crore for Medical and Health, Rs 4,082 crore for Higher Education, Rs 16,990 crore for School Education, Rs 551 crore for Environment, Forest, Science and Technology, Rs 180 crore on Infrastructure, Rs 5,451 crore for Roads, Bridges and Transport, Rs 7,117 crore for Energy, Rs 1,120 crore for Industries and Commerce and Rs 207 crore for Information Technology.
A provision of Rs 5,386 crore has been made for Law and Order. "Equipping the State police force with adequate funds for training, provision of equipment and appropriate manpower is a top priority for government. This is particularly important in the context of increasing incidence of violence against women and terrorist attacks across the country. Renewed focus is now given to provision of better surveillance systems in the State capital," he said. (INN)