Provide tax sops to A.P. on the lines of special category States, Buggana urges Shah

Finance Minister stresses need for Central support to A.P. following bifurcation, at Southern Zonal Council meet at Trivandrum

While asserting that the State’s development prospects have diminished due to the ‘loss of Hyderabad’ and the industrially developed areas to Telangana, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy requested the Central government to extend tax incentives to Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) on the lines of that being given to the special category and northeastern States to help it achieve an accelerated growth trajectory. 

He also appealed to the Centre to exercise its powers under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 (APRA) for an expeditious division of properties and institutions of the unified State of A.P. between the successor State (A.P.) and Telangana. 

He observed that the State had suffered enormously for almost a decade due to bifurcation and non-fulfilment of the assurances given on the floor of the Parliament and any further delay in resolution of the issues would severely impede its journey on the path of development. 

A suitably empowered and effective mechanism should be created by the Ministry of Home Affairs to take decisions on the pending issues and monitor their implementation, he suggested. 

Industrialisation

Addressing the Southern Zonal Council (SZC) meeting held at Trivandrum under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday, Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said steps for promoting industrialisation were imperative for the development of the successor State of A.P. and pointed out that Section 94 of the APRA provided for tax incentives. But, no incentives had been provided under Sec.94(1) and meagre incentives were given for five years under Sec.94(2). 

He mentioned that the non-completion of the division of properties and institutions was causing administrative difficulties and also affecting the delivery of citizen services. 

Mr. Rajendranath Reddy said the special development package of Rs.25,000 crore for seven backward districts was pending with the NITI Aayog. 

He sought SZC chairman’s intervention in this regard for extending the promised support for the Rayalaseema Drought Mitigation and Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi projects as per the revised guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. 

Railway zone

The Minister wanted steps for the establishment of the South Coastal Railway Zone with Visakhapatnam as the headquarters as it had been envisaged under Sec. 93 read with Schedule XIII of the APRA, and sanction of a Central Agricultural University to help the State overcome agrarian distress. 

He sought continued support of the Centre for an early completion of the Polavaram project which, he insisted, was of paramount importance for the overall development of the State. It was declared as a national project under Sec.90 of the APRA.