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Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath tabled Rs 2,86,389.27 crore annual budget for 2024-25 in the Assembly on Wednesday. Rajendranath projected revenue expenditure at Rs 2,30,110.41 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 30,530.18 crore. He also put the revenue deficit at Rs 24,758.22 crore and fiscal deficit at Rs 55,817.50 crore. This is against Rs 2,79,279 crore budget presented for the 2023-24 financial year.
The finance minister said that the government had accorded highest priority to education, health and agriculture in the state in its budget. The allocations for these sectors were more than any other sector, he said. The allocations to every sector project this government’s commitment to ensure welfare government in the state, the finance minister said.
In the new budget the fiscal deficit will be around 3.51 per cent of the GSDP, while the revenue deficit would be 1.56 per cent of the GSDP, the finance minister said. He put the revised estimates of revenue expenditure in the 2023-24 budget at 2,28,237.77 crore and the capital expenditure at Rs 27,308.12 crore. The revenue deficit for the previous year was at Rs 31,534.94 crore and fiscal deficit at Rs 60,153.59 crore.
The government estimated the revenue at Rs 2,05,352 crore. It sees Rs 49,286 crore revenue from Central taxes, Rs 1,09,538 crore from state taxes, Rs 14,400 crore from non-tax income and RS 32,127 crore as grant in aid.
The government also proposes to raise Rs 71,000 crore through debt in the open market. It proposes to borrow Rs 61,612 crore from the Central government and Rs 25,000 crore through other means, the finance minister said.
The finance minister started his budget speech with the quote from Mahatma Gandhi, which said that “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” He said that the government considers the manifesto as sacrosanct test and is committed to implement every aspect of the manifesto.
The Indian democracy which has enshrined this tenet, has also much to owe to the father of our Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar who viewed the ideals of equality, liberty, and fraternity as pillars of democracy and justice, he said. In homage to the visionary leader and architect of our Constitution, our government has installed the 206 ft world’s tallest Dr Ambedkar statue – the ‘Statue of Social Justice’ at Swaraj maidan in Vijayawada. His ideals serve as a guiding light for our government, the finance minister said.
He said that our government has discharged the moral imperative responsibility of removing inequalities; protection and empowerment of vulnerable groups; creating enabling conditions for human capacity development by providing access to quality education, nutrition, healthcare and financial support for livelihood activities. These are essential conditions for sustainable growth, he added.
Andhra Pradesh is a young state brimming with ambition and energy but also handicapped by the bifurcation-related disruption and losses, he said. However, being a new state has provided the opportunity to start with a clean slate, reimagine boundaries, and catapult to a high growth path, he added.
He further said that over the last five years, the government has harnessed this opportunity with several pathbreaking initiatives that are having a transformational impact on the lives of the people. These initiatives implemented through Navaratnalu, manifesto schemes, and strategic interventions are in close alignment with the intent of the Sustainable Development Goals, he said. The programs have delivered positive outcomes and have met national and global acclaim. The transformational impact has been brought about due to both new ideas and innovation, and also the unprecedented scale of many of these initiatives – done on a saturation mode and within a short time period, the finance minister asserted.
