Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav on Friday presented the state government’s annual budget for the financial year 2025-26 in the Legislative Assembly, with a total outlay of Rs 3.22 lakh crore.
This marks the first full-fledged budget of the Chandrababu Naidu-led government in its current tenure. There was widespread anticipation regarding the allocation of funds for the "Super Six Guarantees" that Naidu had promised before the elections.
However, the Naidu budget has made allocations only for two schemes out of the pending "Super Six" promises.
They are: Thalliki Vandanam, a revised Amma Vodi scheme of the previous Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government and Annadata Sukhibhava, which is a modified YSR Rythu Bharosa.
Under the Thalliki Vandanam scheme, the budget has made an allocation of Rs 9,407 crore. Every mother will receive Rs 15,000 per child in her bank account, irrespective of the number of school-going children. The government has decided to implement this scheme from May 2025.
Under Annadata Sukhibhava, farmers will receive Rs 20,000 per year. The state will deposit Rs 14,000 in three instalments in addition to the Rs 6,000 provided under the central PM-Kisan scheme.
However, the budget did not mention about free bus travel for women in RTC buses, although a ministerial committee has been formed to study its implementation. No allocation was made in the budget.
Secondly, it also has skirted the promise of paying unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000 per month each jobless youth. Officials estimated this would cost Rs 2,100 crore per month, but no funds were allocated for it.
However, the Naidu government allocated Rs 31,613 crore under NTR Medical Assistance Scheme (revised Arogya Sri), Rs 23,260 crore to BC Welfare, Rs 18,848 crore for Panchayat Raj and Rural development, Rs 19,260 crore for healthcare sector, Rs 18,020 crore for water resources development and Rs 31,806 crore for school education.
After presenting the budget, Minister Payyavula Keshav stated that Andhra Pradesh is facing a financial crisis, with its borrowing capacity at zero.
He claimed that AP is now the only state in the country unable to secure loans. However, he added that the budget was crafted under the vision and inspiration of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.