The revenue for the first month after bifurcation brought some cheer for the Andhra Pradesh government. Contrary to the fears that the State revenues would dip post-bifurcation with no share in Hyderabad’s revenue, regarded as the cash cow in the unified State, the income posted for the July month proved that the fears are unfounded.
The revenue of July held significance as it is the first month the tax revenues were directed credited to the separate accounts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Andhra Pradesh accruals for July amounted to Rs.5,480 crore and for Telangana, it is Rs.3,822 crore. It more or less reflected that the States earned revenue on the proportion to their population of 58:42 . The united State in the last July earned a revenue of over Rs.9,000 crore, sources said.
The VAT revenue of Andhra Pradesh for July stood at Rs.2,266.94 crore, (Telangana- Rs.2,000 crore), excise- Rs.675.68 crore (Telangana- Rs.300 crore), Transport- Rs.160.90 crore (Telangana- Rs.150 crore), Stamps and Registration- Rs.213.25 crore (Rs.220 crore), Forest –Rs.45 crore (Rs.2 crore), Central devolution of taxes – Rs.1,200 crore (Rs.800 crore).
That the bifurcation did not impact the revenues of residuary Andhra Pradesh brought some solace but given the expenditure on welfare schemes and huge funds required for taking up infrastructure projects, the government has to grapple with huge revenue and fiscal deficits with mounting debt burden, sources added.