Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesman K. Pattabhiram has said that the Andhra Pradesh government raised a staggering ₹25,000 crore loan through the State Development Corporation in “flagrant violation of norms and diverted it for other purposes.”
“The government is under a massive debt burden, and those at the helm should explain how the situation in the State is better than that prevailing in Sri Lanka, instead of rebutting the allegation,” Mr. Pattabhiram said while addressing the media on Saturday.
Mr. Pattabhiram alleged that the government had neglected the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, and that several shell companies were looting the State.
He pointed out that the TDP was objecting to the large-scale diversion of funds and was not opposed to spending money on welfare schemes.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found fault with the government’s “mismanagement of its finances.” The RBI was also critical of banks for flouting norms in lending for projects undertaken by the government-owned entities, he said.
Meanwhile, State BJP’s political feedback wing chief Lanka Dinakar said in a statement that the government’s debt was heading towards the ₹10 lakh crore mark.
He insisted that the State’s precarious financial position warranted constitution of a ‘debt control authority’ that would possibly curb the government’s “fiscal imprudence.”
“Andhra Pradesh stands above all other States in debt-to-GSDP ratio,” he observed, adding that financial discipline was needed to prevent the crisis from worsening.
