Reminding Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of the special assistance to be extended to Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) by way of special dispensation in the funding of Externally Aided Projects (EAP), Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has suggested that ₹16,447 crore for five years i.e. (from 2015-16 to 2019-20) should be provided from NABARD.
In a letter written to Mr. Jaitley , he also pitched for treatment of the special assistance at 90:10 ratio (the Centre and the State) for EAP and disbursal as grant as was done in the case of Special Category Status for all ongoing projects and projects to be signed till 2019-20. He said if this was routed through NABARD instead of as loans through external agencies and treated as grant, it would help Andhra Pradesh in cutting down delay in grounding and completing the projects and ensure that it would not form part of the FRBM limits.
This would facilitate not only early commencement of the projects and availing itself of the special assistant measures but enable the State to put its finances on a firmer footing as envisaged by Parliament during the passage of the A.P. Reorganisation Bill.
Elaborating how the State had arrived at the figure, Mr. Naidu said the State might have received ₹2,951 cr in 2015-16 in the ratio of 90:10 under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). But the Centre arrived at ₹2,516 crore for 2015-16 after deducting the funds for the Central and other schemes for which the sharing pattern was the same for Special Status and other States. Following the same principle, the amount for 2016-17 was calculated at ₹2,854 cr projecting growth at 13.43% over the previous year. Assuming the same growth rate till 2019-20, it was arrived at ₹16,447 cr.
The list of projects to be considered through NABARD include the Andhra Pradesh Rural Water Supply Project (₹4,500 cr), the AP Mandal Connectivity and Rural Connectivity Improvement Project (₹3,200 cr.) and construction of residential school buildings (₹3,341 cr). The proposals for various projects had been submitted to the Department of Economic Affairs in pursuance of the Centre’s special assistance announcement.
