Budget replete with vague promises and no concrete details, says A.P. Congress

APCC president criticizes Union Budget for vague promises, lack of specifics, inadequate funds for Andhra Pradesh development.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Y. S. Sharmila on Tuesday said the Union Budget was a list of vague promises, devoid of specifications and mention of any time frames.

At a press conference here, Ms. Sharmila said there was no mention of the amount of funds proposed for the projects announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “Strangely, this is a Budget without any numbers. It read more like an election manifesto churning out assurances without mentioning any specifications,” she said.

The State Congress chief said while Andhra Pradesh needed funds to the tune of ₹12 lakh crore, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked for only ₹1 lakh crore and the amount declared by the Centre was far from adequate for taking up development in the State, she said.

Referring to the Polavaram project, she said though the Finance Minister rightly pointed out that the project was the lifeline of the people of Andhra Pradesh and that it would also help the State achieve food security, she did not mention the amount of funds proposed to be allocated for this crucial project. Same was the case with the Koparthy industrial node, she said, adding that it was not clear if the Centre would allocate ₹500 crore or ₹5,000 crore for it.

Speaking about the Special Category Status, she said the Union Government had clarified that it would not grant it to Bihar. “Bihar’s case cannot be compared to Andhra Pradesh because Bihar was never promised grant of SCS, while the State was given the promise at the time of bifurcation,” she asserted.

Former State Congress president and Special Invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) Gidugu Rudra Raju said there was no clarity if the ₹15,000 crore amount earmarked for the Amaravati capital project was a grant or a loan. “If it is a loan, it will only add to the economic woes of the State, which is already in a bad shape,” he said.

He said though there was a mention of Chennai-Visakhapatnam Industrial Corridor, there was no mention of the roadmap or a blueprint for the project. Crucial projects like the Dugirajapatnam Port, Railway Zone in Visakhapatnam, safeguarding of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant from privatisation and grant of Kadapa Steel Plant found no mention in the budget, he said.