AP budget focuses on irrigation, development

Hyderabad, Feb 19 (UNI) Adhering to the poll promise of solving the agrarian crisis, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh today presented a tax-free Rs 80,996.60 crore budget with a revenue surplus of Rs 25.01 crore.

Finance Minister K Rosaiah, who presented the budget to the Assembly for approval, increased the allocation by 30 per cent (Rs 13,002 crore) to irrigation and a whopping 328 per cent (Rs 4793 crore) to the housing sector.

Even while making substantial increase in development expenditure, the government had not resorted to overdraft from the Reserve Bank of India, he said, hoping to eliminate revenue deficit by 2008-09 and become revenue surplus thereafter.

'In the same fashion, we will also contain fiscal deficit to three per cent GSDP', he asserted.

While Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy complimented the Finance Minister for presenting a 'development-oriented' budget with focus on growth and welfare, Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu dubbed the budget as 'anti-poor'.

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