NEW DELHI: Living up to expectations, the Narendra Modi government on Thursday gave a lion’s share in the Union Budget to Andhra Pradesh by announcing an IIT, AIIMS, agricultural university and a smart city in Krishnapatnam besides other projects.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley assured AP and Telangana that the BJP government will address all issues that have found mention in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The absence of any commitment on financial package and the special category status for Andhra Pradesh in the Budget speech was disappointing.
Andhra Pradesh would get an All India Institute of Medical Sciences, an Indian Institute of Technology and an agricultural university besides setting up of National Academy for Customs & Excise at Hindupur in Rayalaseema region.
The Budget also allotted Rs 500-crore for setting up of a ultra solar mega power plant project in the state along with four other states.
Though the finance minister did not announce the exact locations of the proposed institutes, it is likely that the AIIMS would be built somewhere between Vijayawada and Guntur, while the IIT would come up in the Rayalaseema region, somewhere between Tirupati and Chittoor.
Mr Jaitley also announced that Kakinada and its adjoining areas and the port in east Godavari district will be developed as the key drivers of economic growth in the region with a special focus on hardware manufacturing.
While announcing the new AIIMS in four states, Mr Jaitley allotted Rs 500 crore for the purpose and allotted another Rs 500 crore for setting up of five more IITs in Jammu, Chattisgarh, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
“It is also proposed to establish Agriculture Universities in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and Horticulture Universities in Telangana and Haryana. An initial sum of Rs 200 crore has been allocated for this purpose,” the minister said in his speech.
The Budget also announced that a new smart city would come up in Krishnapatnam in Nellore on the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor region.
“My government is committed to addressing the issues relating to development of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the AP Re-organisation Act, 2014. Provision has been made by various ministries/departments to fulfill the obligation of Union government for both the states,” the minister said.
The minister said the perspective plan for the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic corridor (BMEC) and Vizag-Chennai corridor would be completed with the provision for 20 new industrial clusters.
