Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister tables vote-on-account budget

AMRAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister B Rajendranath on Wednesday tabled a vote-on-account budget of Rs 2.86 lakh crore for fiscal 2024-25 in the Legislative Assembly here, with a revenue expenditure of Rs 2.3 lakh crore.

The Finance Minister estimated the capital expenditure for fiscal 2024-25 at Rs 30,530 crore and pegged the revenue deficit at Rs 24,758 crore.

He noted that the fiscal deficit would be around Rs 55,817 crore, which would be 3.51 per cent of the GSDP while revenue deficit would be around 1.56 per cent.

Earlier, Rajendranth said the welfare of the poor in the state is the main goal of the vote-on-account budget.

The Finance Minister claimed that Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was the only Chief Minister who regarded the election manifesto as a holy scripture and implemented it.

"We could have done many more developmental works had there been no Covid-19 and a better financial situation," Rajendranath was quoted as saying in an official press release.

According to the Finance Minister, the YSRCP government did more than what is required for the poor and downtrodden and that it gave importance to the sections of people who cannot fend for themselves.

In the previous budgets, Rajendranath underscored that education, health, women's empowerment and agriculture were given top priority.

Earlier, the state Cabinet approved the vote-on-account budget for 2024-'25 under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy..

Besides approving the budget, the Cabinet has also approved the speech delivered by the Governor to a joint session of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and Council on February 5.

The Cabinet gave the nod to a new horticultural food processing polytechnic college at Dhone in Nandyala district, among others.