Budget 2018: Andhra CM writes to FM for grant through NABARD for projects

UNION BUDGET 2018 - Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has written a fresh letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, requesting that certain projects be funded in the form of "grant" by the Centre through NABARD, instead of loans from external agencies.

The state government had earlier expressed inability to spend a quantum of funds under the Special Assistance Measure (SAM) announced by the Centre within the stipulated five years.

The chief minister had told the state Assembly during the winter session that his government saw "no immediate benefit" from the SAM under externally-aided projects (EAPs) after the Centre turned down the state's plea to let it use the money to clear outstanding loans.

Naidu wrote a letter afresh to Jaitley on January 5 stating that the AP government expected to receive Rs 16,447 crore under the SAM from 2015-16 to 2019-20.

"AP Government has sent proposals for various projects to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) under the EAP.

"I would like to mention that projects under the EAP will consume a lot of time for grounding and completing, considering the elaborate procedures involved in getting clearance and approval from external funding agencies," the chief minister said in the letter.
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