Andhra presents Rs.1.45 lakh crore budget

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy Friday presented a tax-free, revenue-surplus budget for 2012-13 with an overall expenditure of over Rs.1.45 lakh crore.

He told the assembly during his budget speech that the overall expenditure during 2012-13 would be Rs.145,854 lakh crore, comprising Rs.91,824 crore under non-plan and Rs.54,030 crore under plan heads.

Presenting his second budget, Ramnarayan Reddy said the fiscal deficit was estimated to be Rs.20,008 crore while the revenue surplus would be Rs.4,444 crore.

The minister announced that the government would continue welfare schemes like “Arogyasri”, free electricity to farmers and Rs.1 a-kg rice to people below the poverty line.

The budget has provided Rs.1,075 crore for interest-free loans to farmers and women’s self-help groups. Under the Rajiv Vidya Mission, 15 lakh jobs will be created by 2014.

The government has increased the allocations for agriculture, irrigation, rural development, health and other sectors.