NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the 2024-25 budget on Tuesday announced Rs 15,000 crore for the development of Andhra Pradesh‘s Amaravati capital city project.
The project was back on track after the return of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) an NDA ally in the Telugu state.
The TDP and the JD(U) in Bihar, had been vying for a special status for their respective state in the budget.
On July 17, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had met Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to seek greater budgetary allocation for key projects like Amaravati and Polavaram.
Before that, the TDP chief had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well.
Noteworthy, TDP is the second largest member of the NDA coalition after JD(U) at the Centre.
On Monday too, two Union ministers from the TDP had met Jal Shakti minister C R Patil seeking financial support for the Polavaram Irrigation project in the state. Ram Mohan Naidu and B Srinivasa Varma, along with Andhra Pradesh water resources development minister N Ramanaidu, emphasised the project’s significance for the state’s development.
“Our government has made efforts to fulfil the commitments in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Recognising the state’s need for capital, we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral agencies. In the current financial year, Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged with additional amounts in future years,” Sitharaman said while presenting the Union budget.
(With agency inputs)