Centre bows to AP pressure: Agrees to bridge revenue deficit in full

Hyderabad/New Delhi: Buckling under pressure from the TDP, the Centre is understood to have decided to concede most of the demands that the Telugu Desam Party has been raising for the last four days in both the Houses of Parliament.

Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Piyush Goel, Sujana Chowdary and BJP chief Amit Shah, who met late on Friday, went over the demands of the AP government and agreed to bridge the revenue deficit in full, the state had inherited at the time of bifurcation.

The meeting also examined various ways of implementation of special package and decided to concede to the demand of the state government that the funds be furnished by the Centre through whatever means it deems fit.

The meeting which went on for more than two hours also decided to release funds at one go to the state which it should have got during the last five years had there been special category status. 

According to sources, this means that funds would be made available to the state in the 90:10 ratio by the Centre for various projects it had lined up already. As regards several institutions, funds for several other projects, creation of railway zone with Visakhapatnam as its headquarters and setting up of a sea port at Dugarajapatnam, a thorough discussion took place; but no decision has yet been taken, sources said.