TDP-led Govt says YSRCP destroyed Andhra's economy; "false propaganda" counters Jagan Reddy's party

Speaking to media here on Friday, the YSRCP chief slammed the TDP government for not presenting a full budget for 12 months even after 52 days of coming into power and said Chandrababu lacks the courage to present a regular budget, opting instead for a Vote on Account. If he presented a regular budget, he would need to allocate funds for the deceptive promises made before the elections, but he is avoiding it because he doesn't intend to implement those schemes sincerely, he added.

His response came a day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu slammed former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, accusing him of destroying the state's economy on Thursday.

In regard to state debts, the YSRCP chief said TDP spread false propaganda claiming that the state debt was 14 lakh crore before the elections, and after election results, they claimed it was Rs 10 lakh crore. However, as of June this year, the actual government debt stands at Rs 5,18,708 crore.

The YSRCP president said when Naidu left office, the debt was Rs 2,71,798 crore and it was Rs 1,18,051 crore at the time of the state's bifurcation and referring to government guarantees, the debt when Naidu left office was Rs 50,000 crore, and under YSRCP government, it increased to Rs 1,06,000 crore.

The YSRCP President said the total state liabilities were Rs 1,53,347 crore when Chandrababu Naidu took office, which increased to Rs 4,08,710 crore by the time he left with a 21.63 percent increase while the debt under the YSRCP government increased to Rs 7,48,000 crore, with 12.90 percent increase and therefore, it is evident whose tenure saw a higher increase in debt.

He said that the YSRCP government had directly transferred Rs 2.70 lakh crore to beneficiaries through DBT schemes over the past five years and added that even though the state received Rs 5,655 crore from the centre on June 10, and the treasury had about Rs 7,000 crore by June 12, Naidu opted for a Vote on Account to avoid fulfilling his promises.

On the other hand, as per the white paper released by the Andhra Pradesh government, the state suffered a loss of Rs 6.94 lakh crore due to the reduced growth rate.

Outlining the state's growth rate between 2014 and 2019, which was 13.5 percent, it stated this growth rate would have fetched a revenue of Rs 76,195 crore.

It further mentioned that even considering the COVID-19 impact on revenue, an additional revenue of Rs52,197 crore should have come to the state. According to the data in the white paper, the growth rate of the state's economy reduced to 10.5 percent in 2014-19, which was three percent less compared to 2019-24.

Under its section titled "Misgovernance after 2019," the white paper added that during the previous regime, the state suffered an additional burden of Rs12,250 crore due to the increased power cost from short-term power purchases.

The paper further alleged that due to illegal sand mining, the state treasury lost Rs7,000 crore and Rs9,750 crore due to mismanagement in mineral revenue. The state also suffered losses due to the cancellation of contracts in Amravati, Polavaram, and the energy sector, it outlined.

The white paper further added that, due to inefficient governance during this period, the state lost Rs 1.29 lakh crore in the power sector.

Due to delays, the loss in Polavaram stood at Rs 45,000 crore, while Rs 4,900 crore was lost due to damages and repairs, and Rs 3,000 crore was lost due to a delay in hydel power generation, the paper alleged.

The white paper also claimed that during this period, no major new industry or infrastructure project was undertaken in Andhra Pradesh.

It was also observed that the central sector schemes and funds, including the state share of Rs6,600 crore during the previous government, were not released.

"DBT schemes were supposed to increase wealth in the hands of people. However, the per capita income growth reduced," as per the white paper.

The per capita income growth of the state, according to the white paper, during 2014-19 stood at 13.2 percent, which reduced to 9.5 percent during 2019-24.

It pointed out that the DBT expenditure led to an increase in borrowings by the state, resulting in an increase in per capita debt.

Furthermore, it highlighted the issue of mismanagement of financial resources in the state, alleging that re-routing or diversion of funds from the state's institutional bodies to AP State Financial Services Ltd took place.

Mentioning the amount of Rs 1,452 crore, the white paper added, "The government did not transfer the amount received in March 2024 from the central government for local bodies."

Highlighting the debt burden on the state, it added that the debt burden as of March 31, 2019 was Rs 3,75,295 crore, which rose to Rs 9,74,556 crore. (ANI)