The Andhra Pradesh government doesn’t seem to be in any rush to draft or announce the state’s budget for this year. The Telangana government has already finished its budget exercise, and CM KCR has asked for the budget to be drafted as practically as possible. On the other hand, sources say that the AP government might resort to a vote-on budget this year as well.
The Union government usually releases the year’s budget in February, through which it would be made clear how much budget is being allocated to a single state. Taking this as a reference point, the states then prepare their own budget, by also taking into consideration other factors that bring in revenue for the states.
Last year, due to Coronavirus, the Andhra Pradesh government resorted to a vote-on budget, and this year too, the government is expected to be following the same, for at least until three months. After that, the government is expected to release the official budget for the state. With the Municipal elections underway in the state, and with the parishad elections set to follow, the government is likely to state these as the possible reasons for postponing the budget announcement.
This year’s budget is going to be a herculean task for the Andhra Pradesh government, given that ti has a debt of over Rs. 50,000 Crores and the revenue that they are getting from the state is not enough. To top it all up, they also have to factor in all the schemes that they have introduced for the people of the state. They have to plan the budget in such a way that the state will manage to sustain, and the daily expenses can be met with. It is now to be seen what will happen.