AP govt presents Rs 1.61 lakh cr Budget for 2013-14

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy on Monday presented a Rs 1.61 lakh crore budget for 2013-14, with an estimated revenue "surplus" of Rs 10,023 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 24,487 crore.

The budget for 2012-13 had stood at Rs 1.46 lakh crore. Separately, state Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana presented an "action plan" with an amount of Rs 25,962 crore for agriculture and "allied" sectors. The principal Opposition Telugu Desam Party boycotted the Agriculture Minister`s presentation and walked out of the Assembly dubbing the government`s "pioneering move" as unconstitutional. The state`s Finance Minister said the Gross State Domestic Product at current prices for 2012-13 rose by 12.72 per cent to Rs 7,38,497 crore. At constant prices (2004-05), however, the GSDP is estimated to be Rs 4.26 lakh crore. Per capita income too was projected to rise, as per advance estimates, to Rs 77,277 in 2012-13 from Rs 68,970 the previous year. "This reflects the definite positive impact of the development programmes on the standard of living of people," the Finance Minister said. The state has "optimistically targeted" to attain sectoral growth of six per cent in agriculture, 10.5 per cent in industry and 11.5 per cent in services leading to an overall growth target of 10 per cent for the 12th Plan, he added. The non-plan expenditure in next year`s budget is estimated to be Rs 1.10 lakh crore, up from Rs 89,95,808 crore as per the revised estimates for 2012-13. In line with the statutory status granted to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Special component plans, the Finance Minister allotted Rs 8,585 crore (16.21 per cent) and Rs 3,666 crore (6.92 per cent), respectively out of the annual plan size. PTI