Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu Meets Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
On Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu met with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. They discussed various aspects of the state’s development ahead of the central government’s full budget for 2024-25, which is expected to be presented later this month.
Meeting with Other Union Ministers
Three Union ministers from Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, and Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, were also present. Naidu, who is visiting Delhi, had earlier met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seven other Cabinet ministers, including Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Manohar Lal, and Hardeep Singh Puri.
During these meetings, Naidu brought up multiple issues related to their respective ministries and discussed mechanisms for effective coordination and timely intervention by the Central government.
Key Issues Discussed
Naidu highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by Andhra Pradesh due to the 2014 bifurcation, which he described as unscientific and unjust. He also pointed out the fiscal difficulties, with committed expenses exceeding the state’s revenue receipts, leaving no room for productive capital investment.
He sought financial support from the central government for various projects, including the Polavaram National Irrigation Project, the development of Amaravati, and support for backward regions similar to the Bundelkhand package. He also requested funds for the Duggirajupatnam port.
Specific Requests to Union Ministers
During his meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, Naidu requested Rs. 385 crore for the Greyhounds Training Centre and Rs. 27.54 crore for operational costs. He also asked for a review of the Andhra Pradesh IPS cadre, which has been pending since 2015.
In his meeting with Nitin Gadkari, Naidu requested the expansion of highways and the development of new expressways and bypasses to improve connectivity.
With Piyush Goyal, he sought financial assistance for essential infrastructure in industrial nodes. He also discussed the establishment of an integrated aquapark with Shivraj Singh Chouhan and requested BPCL to set up a refinery in the state during his meeting with Hardeep Singh Puri.
Naidu also had a productive meeting with Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.
