AP accuses Centre of bias against non-BJP states

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Planning Board vice-chairman Ch Kutumba Rao alleged that the Central government was showing discrimination towards the non-BJP ruled states in giving funds for the development projects.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday, Kutumba Rao said the Centre was giving Rs 50,000 crore to eight cities in the BJP ruled states, Gujarat, Uttara Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, as part of Mumbai-Delhi corridor and giving thousands of crores for building Dholera city in Gujarat as part of corridor project.

He asked the Centre why it was not giving funds for infrastructure projects in Andhra Pradesh such as Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor and capital city construction. 

Stating that the BJP leaders were criticising the TDP government for designing the capital city by Singapore firms, he said but the BJP government entrusted the responsibility of designing the statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Dholera city to the foreign consultants.  “The Centre gave only Rs 1,500 crore for the construction of Amaravati capital while it allotted Rs 3,000 crore to Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue,” he said.

Kutumba Rao said the NITI Aayog did not reject the utilisation certificates sent by the Andhra Pradesh government. “The BJP leaders are misleading people on utilisation certificates to get mileage on it. No Central government institution did not reject our utilisation certificates,” he said.

In fact, he said, the CAG reported that Rs 87,000 crore of funds in Union Ministry of Human Resource Development was misused and said some Central government departments did not submit utilisation certificates.

“The Centre should rectify its mistakes before criticising Andhra Pradesh or any other state,” he said. He also said the Centre allotted 5,000 mw solar park to Gujarat which is biggest in the country even though several states competed for it.

He said the Centre was ignoring the repeated requests of AP government over giving tax exemptions on Amaravati bonds. Kutumba Rao also said he was ready for discussion over the claims of BJP leaders that the Centre gave Rs 3.5 lakh crore to AP.