(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The cash-starved residuary state of Andhra Pradesh has reiterated its demand for special category status and liberal grants from the centre for the next five years to boost development.Making a presentation before the 14th Finance Commission at the temple town of Tirupati on Friday Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu made a strong pitch for central assistance to meet a plethora of challenges including building a new capital city promotion of new industries and implementation of welfare programmes.
Finance Commission Chairman Y V Reddy and other members held a marathon meeting with the state ministers and top officials and promised to recommend to the Centre liberal assistance to Andhra Pradesh to enable it to implement its development agenda.
In his presentation the Chief Minister highlighted the huge revenue gap and the fiscal challenges that the residuary state was facing post-bifurcation and wanted the tax share from the central pool to be increased from 32 per cent to 50 per cent. He also gave an overview of the ambitious projects that his government had embarked on and sought liberal sanction of funds for them.
Naidu also sought special funds for development of backward areas in Rayalaseema and north coastal Andhra regions and also waiver of central loans. As many as ten ministers and senior officials attended the interactive meeting the first after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
The Commission will also interact with representatives of trade and industry local bodies and political parties in due course. According to officials AP will be looking at around Rs3000 billion to 4000 billion in additional allocation of grants for the State during 2015-2020.
The state would require at least Rs1500 billion to Rs2000 billion to build a new capital. The state government has already demanded that the centre compensate the loss of revenue due to the expected implementation of goods and services Tax (GST) which is to the tune of Rs40 billion. The announcement of the Special Category status for the state will pave the way for providing tax exemptions to attract more industries. — newskhaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes Follow khaleejtimes ->
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