AP Govt Requests Centre To Release Rs 9,164 Cr Dues

AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government has urged Centre to immediately release Rs 9,164 crore under various heads which is due to the state for several years. It sent a plea to the Centre through its ruling YSR Congress Party MPs.

The dues are Rs 3,232.41 crore towards reimbursement of Polavaram irrigation project expenditure, GST compensation of Rs 3,622.07 crore, rice subsidy of Rs 1,728 crore and 14th Finance Commission grants to urban local bodies (ULBs) of Rs 581.60 crore.

In a detailed memorandum presented to the Centre, the state pointed out that it had already submitted the audit report on Polavaram project expenditure prior to March 31, 2014 and as such the pending reimbursement of Rs 3,232.41 crore be done immediately. The state government also wants the Jal Shakti Ministry to approve the revised estimates for Polavaram, which the ministry itself determined to be Rs 47,725.74 crore.

On GST, the state government said that compensation was due (in parts) for the financial years 2017-18 and 2019-20 and furthermore up to June 2020. Chief Minister YS Jagan in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently had said that timely release of GST compensation (amounting to Rs 3,622 crore) has become very important for the state.

The state said it owed payments to farmers under minimum support price operations while payments were due to the cooperatives and self-help groups for handling paddy purchases. Release of the pending Rs 1,728 crore food subsidy to the AP Civil Supplies Corporation will help in clearing the pending payments, it said.

Referring to the Rs 3,635.80 grant of the 14th Finance Commission to ULBs for improvement of urban services and civic infrastructure, the AP government said a sum of Rs 581.60 crore was still pending release from the Centre.

The state government informed Centre that it has submitted the required utilisation certificates and also demonstrated compliance for all reforms stipulated by the Finance Commission and requested for early release of funds for its welfare schemes.