Andhra Pradesh budget likely to be about Rs. 2.4 lakh crore for 2020-21

Amaravati: For the first time in history, the duration of the Assembly budget session is reduced to just two days, in view of COVID19. It will commence on Tuesday at 10 am with the address of Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan from Raj Bhavan through video conference and ends on Wednesday. Before that, the Cabinet scheduled to meet at around 9 am at Secretariat to approve the Annual Financial Statements and other Bills to be introduced in the House.

The sources in the secretariat informed that the estimated budget for the entire Financial Year from April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, would be around Rs 2.4 lakh cr, but declined to inform the exact figures. It is worth mentioning that the interim budget introduced through the Ordinance for the first quarter was nearly Rs 71,000 Cr. If it is calculated for the four quarters by multiplying with four, then it would come around Rs 2.8 lakh cr, but the officials explained that even though the government expected to like that during the promulgation of the Ordinance, the present final budget will be dependent on many other factors including the COVID19 pandemic.

Due to the widespread pandemic, the state government experiencing the lowest revenue from last two and half months.

On the other hand, the officials informed that lions share in the budget will be allocated for welfare schemes, particularly in the form of Direct Cash Transfer to the beneficiaries. The major cash benefit schemes are including Rythu Bharosa, Jagananna Amma Vodi and others.

Apart from that the expenditure on the salaries and wages also increased in this budget when compared to the previous budget, officials informed. It happened as the government recruited at least 1 lakh new employees for the village and ward secretariat, along with the estimated 3.4 lakh village and ward volunteers.

The capital expenditure on the development and infrastructure projects will significantly come down in this budget, informed the officials.

Meanwhile, the government will also present the Socio-Economic Survey report in the Assembly along with the Annual Financial Statement, informed the Finance Department authorities.