AP Unhappy With Central Assistance of Rs 1,976 crore 

Vijayawada: The TDP government in Andhra Pradesh expressed unhappiness over the center’s financial assistance of Rs 1,976 crore terming it as inadequate.

The Union finance ministry sanctioned the first tranche of financial assistance on Thursday. Of the sanctioned funds, Rs 1,176 crore will be for bridging the revenue gap for the year 2014-15, Rs 350 crore for seven backward districts and Rs 450 crore for construction of the capital city. The second installment will be for Polavaram project and educational institutions.
After a series of meetings with Union minister YS Chowdary and AP development commissioner PV Ramesh, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreed to release about Rs 10,000 crore in three installments.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley agreed to release about Rs 10,000 crore in three installments for the state government as central assistance.

The Centre will grant about Rs 4,000 crore to build institutions of excellence in Andhra Pradesh. The cost will be borne by the Union HRD ministry under the education infrastructure fund. Similarly, the urban development ministry is examining proposals to fund the Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada metro rail projects. The quantum of funding will be announced later this month.

Apart from the financial assistance, the AP government also insisted on relaxing FRBM norms that restrict the borrowing capacity of the state. “We have also requested to ease the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) norms from the existing three per cent to four per cent. This will enable the state to raise Rs 6,000 crore more from the financial institutions,“ Ramesh said.