AP government likely to allocate Rs 40K crore for Navaratnas

Amaravati: The state government is contemplating to allocate more than Rs 40,000 crore for welfare schemes alone in its first budget.

All these welfare schemes will be implemented under the holistic name of Navaratnas, nine promises given by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his election campaign.

This Rs 40,000 crore will be around 20 per cent of the total budget, according to the officials of the finance department. The state government is going to present the budget on July 12 in the Assembly.

Governor E S L Narasimhan will address the joint sitting of the Legislature on July 11, according to a statement by the legislature affairs and finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy.

It is estimated that the proposed budget will be more than Rs 2.2 lakh crore for this year. The officials are still in the process of finalising the budget figures and adjusting the allocations to each department for implementation of the welfare schemes.

Under the YSR Pension Kanuka scheme alone, the government has to distribute around Rs 15,675 crore, which is twice as much as the amount being spent now.

The previous government spent Rs 8,234 crore for distributing old age and other pensions. But, the proposed spending will be double due to increase in pension amount and reduction in the eligible age.