Telugu States' News and Discussion

[Dasari]

What is announced as Capital area is the most acceptable for people of at least 10 districts as it is in the Center of the state.

How did you figure this out? I don't know why you left out 3 districts. Perhaps you mean that the three districts of the delta don't want to be part of capital, but they are sacrificing themselves for the benefit of the other ten districts. Politicians can sell anything as long as people are gullible.

Seriously, it is not about Vijayawada any more. We are past those silly justifications. It is about whether AP can afford a mega capital at this stage when they have more high priority items that produce something tangible and provide sustainable jobs across the state. To administer a capital, they need few buildings. Nothing more at this point. In fact this whole idea of mega capital seriously jeopardized everything that the state desperately needs. The actions of a state that dishes to Rs 60000 crores to farmers, and plan to build Rs 300,000 crore capital city don't paint a picture of state that badly needs help, but a state and leader that is trying to show off. An automobile factory in Anantpur, IT sector in Vizag, Polavaram for delta, IIT for Tirupati, Petro corridor at Kakinada or manufacturing belt along Nellore-Chennai will not stop because the state doesn't have this shiny capital but definitely be hindered if no special status is given to them. At least we need to pretend austerity, even if we don't maintain one.

[Rony]

Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation – Promises Galore ! Status Report.

Andhra Pradesh State was bifurcated with a ludicrously drafted bill by congress which was later passed by Parliament in a most undemocratic manner in Feb 2014. People voted for NDA alliance at Center and State hoping they would fulfill the promises made. The NDA government has presented 2 Union Budgets till date and 3 full budgets will follow before 2019 elections. Let us review the status of the commitments made, based on the budgetary allocations (for 22 months) and other actions.

Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014: Link to the act

Rajya Sabha Assurances : After the shameless drama in Lok Sabha with the flawed bill and resentment from public, Shri Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley, forced UPA to provide further benefits to the state. The 6 points for BJP to support the bill were announced by Prime Minister on floor of Parliament and approved by the UPA cabinet in 2014. [The 6 points announced by PM]

AP BJP Manifesto:

Assurance to provide and extend ‘Special Category’ status by 5 more years.
Provide Special package for backward regions on the lines of Bundelkhand and past packages.
Allocating funds to completely fulfill first year (2014-15) revenue deficit. (Before 14th Finance commission report comes out)

Let us review the current status:

“Special Category” Status: Special category status was promised for 5 years in Parliament by the PM and approved by UPA cabinet. BJP went ahead and said that they would further extend the status by 5 years once they are in power.[Special category states get allocations as 90% grants and 10% loans,Concession on excise duty etc]

Status: No action till date. There is a blame game going on between NDA and UPA.

Special Package/Incentives: The parliament and UPA cabinet passed the implementation of a special package for the 7 backward districts for the state on the lines of other packages implemented in the past in Bundelkhand,MP,Orrisa.

Status: Rs 50 cr each for 7 backward districts was approved in Feb 2015 for the year 2014-15. There is no mention about allocation in the 2015-16 budget. Moreover, the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) scheme is now discontinued and state has to bear this burden. FM in his 2015-16 budget speech mentioned that they will provide special assistance to AP,Bihar and west Bengal.It needs to be seen if the Rs 20,000 crore allocated to NITI Aayog will be used for this purpose.

15% additional depreciation on new plant and machinery setup in backward region. 15% investment allowance for industries setup in backward region. This is applicable for 5 years(2015-2020). The above allowance is futile, as the industry will only benefit once it becomes profitable.

Revenue deficit in 2014-15: Parliament and BJP promised to fulfil the resource gap in first year budget before the 14th Finance commission recommendations are approved. The state has a revenue deficit of Rs 9,736 crore till end of Jan 2015. The State requested an amount of Rs 15,691 crore. There was no allocation made in the 2014-15 union budget.

Status: An amount of Rs 500 crore was allocated in Feb 2015. Will more funds be released before April 2015 to bridge the gap?

Polavaram Project: This multi-purpose dam on godavari river would irrigate 7.2 lakh acres and provide 80+ TMC water for drinking and industry.In 2009 National water commission approved the project at an estimated cost of Rs 16,010 crore which has skyrocketed to Rs 20,000 cr by 2015. Since 2004 the state government has spent Rs 5,700 crore on the project. AP Reorganisation act declared Polavaram as a national project. 50% of the canal work has been completed till date and the reservoir work has to start. P1

Status: An ordinance was passed to merge villages from 7 mandals of Telangana into Andhra Pradesh before the appointed day(June 2nd 2014). ‘Polavaram Project Authority’ was setup and Dinesh Kumar was appointed as CEO in Dec 2014. No commitment has been made on the funds spent by the state government. Budget Allocations: 2014-15:Rs 250 crore 2015-16:Rs 100 crore (This has caused lot of heart burn among people.) Anticipating a delay, the state government has embarked upon ‘Pattiseema lift irrigation’ to pump 70 TMC of water from Godavari to Krishna and plans to complete it in 2015.

New Capital: State government has sent a report with estimates of Rs 20,935 crore for 5 years to develop the new capital. Act: Section 94(3) of the act.

Status: No allocation was done in 2015-16 budget. The state has entered into an MOU with Singapore government to prepare a master plan for the capital. This would be completed by May 2015 and submitted to Center and kept public domain. The land Pooling for the project is in final stages. There is speculation in media that Rs 2000 crore might be released from unused funds under various ministries before April 2015.

Educational Institutions: The 13th schedule of the act directed to setup IIT,IIM,IISER,NIT,Central University,Petroleum University,Agricultural university,IIIT,Tribal University,NIDM and AIIMS. The state government is expected to provide land and central government will fund the Institution.

Status: Foundation stone was laid for IIM Vizag in Jan 2015. Approvals for other locations identified by state government are in Progress and in final stages. The IIM session would start from 2015 in a temporary campus.

Fund allocations:

2014-15: Rs 7 crore for other Institutes which in revised estimates came down to Rs 7 lakh. AIIMS final budgetary allocation was Rs 1 crore

2015-16: Rs 208 crores was allocated. (IIM,IIT,NIT,IISER got Rs 40 crore each. IIIT:Rs 45 Crore, Central University: Rs 1 crore, Tribal University: Rs 2 crore, AIIMS-unknown). Rs 75 core was allocated for Agricultural University.

[To give you an Idea of the ballpark costs involved, setting up an IIM – Rs 1000 crore and IIT – Rs 1750 crore]. While AP BJP President and MP K Haribabu said that “In just 5 months we have provided Rs 7,500 crore through MHRD”, the actual allocations have been around Rs 300 crore in 2 budgets.

Infrastructure: The act specifies that

The government has to examine the expansion of Vizag,Vijayawada and Tirupati airports to international standards.
A feasibility study for a greenfield oil refinery and Petrochemical complex within 6 months has to be completed.
Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor feasibility should be completed [was mentioned in 2014-15 budget]
Government should develop a new major port at Dugarajapatnam and complete Phase-1 by 2018.

Status: There is no fund allocation or progress on this front. Port was mentioned in rail budget, but there is no further clarity on funding.

Railway Zone: The act directs to examine the establishment of a new railway zone for the state within 6 months and take an expeditious decision thereon.

Status: A committee was formed and its term extended further. No action even after 9 months.

Metro Rail: The act outlines conducting feasibility study for Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada metro rail within one year and taking decision thereon.

Status: The State government appointed Shri E Sreedharan as the Principal Adviser of the Project. The team will submit the DPR by end of March 2015.

Allocations: 2014-15: None 2015-16: Rs 5.63 crore each.

No allocations were made for Police academy,Greyhounds,Octopus,Marine academy,SDR force setup in the new state. Other areas like Power and water sharing issues,Law & Order of Hyderabad with Governor,High court etc are not discussed here.

OTHER AREAS (Unrelated and outside the purview of Reorganisation Act):

14th Finance Commission: All the state governments receive a share of the central taxes and this allocation formula is reviewed every 5 years by a commission appointed by the President of India. The 14th finance commission’s report(2015-20) was approved by the government. Based on this an additional tax devolution of 10% was given to the states. States would now receive 42% of the central tax pool. AP share would be 4.3%. Even after due representations by the state to the chairman for providing a level playing field, there was no special treatment for Andhra Pradesh bifurcation losses. The state will receive additional grant of Rs 22,113 crore over 5 years to overcome the Revenue deficit. Similar grant is provided to 10 other states. There are additional funds that are allocated over a 5 year period[Rs 10,696 crore for Local bodies and Rs 2429 towards SDRF]. The state would also receive 4 % from the service tax pool. Apart from the above allocation, the center has transferred 24 central schemes to states (to fund partially) and 8 schemes to be fully funded by states.

For 2015-16 the state would receive a tax devolution of Rs 22,637 cr + deficit support 6609 cr = Rs 29,246 crore. (plus other funds for local bodies etc)

13th Finance Commission: State has to receive Rs 2,450 crore before April 2015 for the year 2014-15.

HudHud Cyclone: The state was hit by a devastating cyclone in 2014. The state received a relief package of Rs 737 crore. As per a UN study, AP and Orrisa had a loss of $11 billion(appox Rs67,000 crore) due to the cyclone.

Smart Cities: Vizag was selected as a Smart city. USA agreed to be a lead partner in developing the city. Krishnapatnam was selected in the previous budget. Status: No funds allocated. Not even a single rupee was utilised from the Rs 7000 cr allocated for smart city projects in country in 2014-15 budget. No clarity on allocations in 2015-16.

24/7 Power and Projects: The state along with Rajasthan and Delhi were selected for this pilot scheme. NTPC will build 1000 MW solar projects and a 4000 MW thermal project. State and NTPC have signed MOU.

National Waterway-4: Clearances for this project on Buckingham canal are almost final.This is a Rs 353 crore project.

NOFN: Andhra Pradesh has become the first state to opt for executing the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) on its own and the telecom department will reimburse the cost for the same.

====

In the past 9 months what has come across strikingly is that the actions are not matching the words! Narendra Modi’s commitments made to people of AP during 2014 election campaign still reverberate and await implementation. It needs to be seen on how much allocation will be made outside the budget provisions.

Andhra Pradesh has hard-working human resources,Intellectual capital,vast coastline and natural resources. All it needs is adequate and timely support from the Central government to attain a level playing field with the neighboring states. As the old adage goes “A stitch in time saves nine”, and it is high time for the central government to take the people of Andhra Pradesh into confidence and act steadfastly to fulfill the promises. Effective communication with all the stakeholders of the state would go a long way in allaying fears and misgivings.

After the budget, CM said “I am positive thinker and continue to believe that Modi would address AP’s problems.”.

With positivity we hope that the Prime Minister’s “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” mantra will provide impetus to the state to make rapid strides in development.

[kmkraoind]

CBN is behaving like Pakis in some regards. His thinking is that, what is mine is mine and what is yours is also mine.
- He always played double games when bifurcation is going on, saying that two regions (Telangana and AP) are his 2 eyes.
- One hand he says, AP people choose him for hid administrative abilities in building capital, then why he needs populist measures like farm loan waiver, which is putting a hole 30-50 K crores, even though there is no drought like situation. In essence what for people of AP choose hm, is it for capital building or for populist dole outs.
- If one argues that due to polarization (heavy Christians and Muslims), he needs to resort populist measures. If so, for every 5 years, he needs to dish out 50-60K crore to win the election (to counteract religious polarization).
- What steps he is taking to tame rampaging Evangelists. He is doing nothing to undo any of YSR's measures, on top of that he is either turning blind eye or covertly encouraging Evangelists. These crypto-Christians who will will a significant vote base will never vote for CBN, if they have their own in the form of Jagan clan. Yet, CBN is doing nothing to help Hindus or to slow down Evangelists.
- He is okay with Jagan taking prime political space, but cribs when BJP tries to strengthen in AP.
- AP has 2 options, reverse Evangelists actions to some extent or let slowly AP turn into another East Timor. In case of later, India has to pay costly bills of populist measures every 5 years until AP morphs into East Timor.
- The lackluster attitude and short-sightedness attitude of CBN is not jelling well with RSS/BJP/Modi.
- Even KCR who thought will become another Dora of Nizam is turning tide slowly and KCR is now very staunch Hindu, but autocratic and megalomaniac CBN is not seeing shifting ground in AP.

[chetak]

What is announced as Capital area is the most acceptable for people of at least 10 districts as it is in the Center of the state.

How did you figure this out? I don't know why you left out 3 districts. Perhaps you mean that the three districts of the delta don't want to be part of capital, but they are sacrificing themselves for the benefit of the other ten districts. Politicians can sell anything as long as people are gullible.

Seriously, it is not about Vijayawada any more. We are past those silly justifications. It is about whether AP can afford a mega capital at this stage when they have more high priority items that produce something tangible and provide sustainable jobs across the state. To administer a capital, they need few buildings. Nothing more at this point. In fact this whole idea of mega capital seriously jeopardized everything that the state desperately needs. The actions of a state that dishes to Rs 60000 crores to farmers, and plan to build Rs 300,000 crore capital city don't paint a picture of state that badly needs help, but a state and leader that is trying to show off. An automobile factory in Anantpur, IT sector in Vizag, Polavaram for delta, IIT for Tirupati, Petro corridor at Kakinada or manufacturing belt along Nellore-Chennai will not stop because the state doesn't have this shiny capital but definitely be hindered if no special status is given to them. At least we need to pretend austerity, even if we don't maintain one.

naidu's frequent forays to Bangalore (for example) urging industrialists to either shift from there or trying to get people who are already in firm agreement with the karnataka govt to move and set up industry in AP is unethical and extremely unpleasant. If all the hard work has already been done by the karnataka and other govts who is this joker to poach from another state in this extremely unethical manner.

The politeness and patience of the karnataka and other govts is not endless. Soon he will not be even allowed to enter the other states.

[wasu]

It is clear now BJP with either delay quite a bit or even never act upon on the promises in AP re-org act. What is the end game they are going for?

[kmkraoind]

It is clear now BJP with either delay quite a bit or even never act upon on the promises in AP re-org act. What is the end game they are going for?

- They are telling to CBN, that he will not be treated as Alludu (son-in-law) and get away whatever he does, but treat him a son and he too have responsibilities.
- They want CBN to tone down grand capital. BJP is willing to fund political/administrative capital and demanding exact buildings and layouts to fund them. But CBN is adamant to build another Singapore and expecting a blank cheque from Modi.
- BJP wants to hit money bags (speculators) who thought they will become ultra rich within a year or two. Now every delay in new capital formation will hit land hoarders and speculators, because some of that money is brought on high interests. At present India is need of genuine investors and wealth creators, not speculators.

JMT.

[chetak]

Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation – Promises Galore ! Status Report.

Andhra Pradesh State was bifurcated with a ludicrously drafted bill by congress which was later passed by Parliament in a most undemocratic manner in Feb 2014. People voted for NDA alliance at Center and State hoping they would fulfill the promises made. The NDA government has presented 2 Union Budgets till date and 3 full budgets will follow before 2019 elections. Let us review the status of the commitments made, based on the budgetary allocations (for 22 months) and other actions.

Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014: Link to the act

Rajya Sabha Assurances : After the shameless drama in Lok Sabha with the flawed bill and resentment from public, Shri Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley, forced UPA to provide further benefits to the state. The 6 points for BJP to support the bill were announced by Prime Minister on floor of Parliament and approved by the UPA cabinet in 2014. [The 6 points announced by PM]

AP BJP Manifesto:

Assurance to provide and extend ‘Special Category’ status by 5 more years.
Provide Special package for backward regions on the lines of Bundelkhand and past packages.
Allocating funds to completely fulfill first year (2014-15) revenue deficit. (Before 14th Finance commission report comes out)

Let us review the current status:

“Special Category” Status: Special category status was promised for 5 years in Parliament by the PM and approved by UPA cabinet. BJP went ahead and said that they would further extend the status by 5 years once they are in power.[Special category states get allocations as 90% grants and 10% loans,Concession on excise duty etc]

Status: No action till date. There is a blame game going on between NDA and UPA.

Special Package/Incentives: The parliament and UPA cabinet passed the implementation of a special package for the 7 backward districts for the state on the lines of other packages implemented in the past in Bundelkhand,MP,Orrisa.

Status: Rs 50 cr each for 7 backward districts was approved in Feb 2015 for the year 2014-15. There is no mention about allocation in the 2015-16 budget. Moreover, the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) scheme is now discontinued and state has to bear this burden. FM in his 2015-16 budget speech mentioned that they will provide special assistance to AP,Bihar and west Bengal.It needs to be seen if the Rs 20,000 crore allocated to NITI Aayog will be used for this purpose.

15% additional depreciation on new plant and machinery setup in backward region. 15% investment allowance for industries setup in backward region. This is applicable for 5 years(2015-2020). The above allowance is futile, as the industry will only benefit once it becomes profitable.

Revenue deficit in 2014-15: Parliament and BJP promised to fulfil the resource gap in first year budget before the 14th Finance commission recommendations are approved. The state has a revenue deficit of Rs 9,736 crore till end of Jan 2015. The State requested an amount of Rs 15,691 crore. There was no allocation made in the 2014-15 union budget.

Status: An amount of Rs 500 crore was allocated in Feb 2015. Will more funds be released before April 2015 to bridge the gap?

Polavaram Project: This multi-purpose dam on godavari river would irrigate 7.2 lakh acres and provide 80+ TMC water for drinking and industry.In 2009 National water commission approved the project at an estimated cost of Rs 16,010 crore which has skyrocketed to Rs 20,000 cr by 2015. Since 2004 the state government has spent Rs 5,700 crore on the project. AP Reorganisation act declared Polavaram as a national project. 50% of the canal work has been completed till date and the reservoir work has to start. P1

Status: An ordinance was passed to merge villages from 7 mandals of Telangana into Andhra Pradesh before the appointed day(June 2nd 2014). ‘Polavaram Project Authority’ was setup and Dinesh Kumar was appointed as CEO in Dec 2014. No commitment has been made on the funds spent by the state government. Budget Allocations: 2014-15:Rs 250 crore 2015-16:Rs 100 crore (This has caused lot of heart burn among people.) Anticipating a delay, the state government has embarked upon ‘Pattiseema lift irrigation’ to pump 70 TMC of water from Godavari to Krishna and plans to complete it in 2015.

New Capital: State government has sent a report with estimates of Rs 20,935 crore for 5 years to develop the new capital. Act: Section 94(3) of the act.

Status: No allocation was done in 2015-16 budget. The state has entered into an MOU with Singapore government to prepare a master plan for the capital. This would be completed by May 2015 and submitted to Center and kept public domain. The land Pooling for the project is in final stages. There is speculation in media that Rs 2000 crore might be released from unused funds under various ministries before April 2015.

Educational Institutions: The 13th schedule of the act directed to setup IIT,IIM,IISER,NIT,Central University,Petroleum University,Agricultural university,IIIT,Tribal University,NIDM and AIIMS. The state government is expected to provide land and central government will fund the Institution.

Status: Foundation stone was laid for IIM Vizag in Jan 2015. Approvals for other locations identified by state government are in Progress and in final stages. The IIM session would start from 2015 in a temporary campus.

Fund allocations:

2014-15: Rs 7 crore for other Institutes which in revised estimates came down to Rs 7 lakh. AIIMS final budgetary allocation was Rs 1 crore

2015-16: Rs 208 crores was allocated. (IIM,IIT,NIT,IISER got Rs 40 crore each. IIIT:Rs 45 Crore, Central University: Rs 1 crore, Tribal University: Rs 2 crore, AIIMS-unknown). Rs 75 core was allocated for Agricultural University.

[To give you an Idea of the ballpark costs involved, setting up an IIM – Rs 1000 crore and IIT – Rs 1750 crore]. While AP BJP President and MP K Haribabu said that “In just 5 months we have provided Rs 7,500 crore through MHRD”, the actual allocations have been around Rs 300 crore in 2 budgets.

Infrastructure: The act specifies that

The government has to examine the expansion of Vizag,Vijayawada and Tirupati airports to international standards.
A feasibility study for a greenfield oil refinery and Petrochemical complex within 6 months has to be completed.
Vizag-Chennai Industrial Corridor feasibility should be completed [was mentioned in 2014-15 budget]
Government should develop a new major port at Dugarajapatnam and complete Phase-1 by 2018.

Status: There is no fund allocation or progress on this front. Port was mentioned in rail budget, but there is no further clarity on funding.

Railway Zone: The act directs to examine the establishment of a new railway zone for the state within 6 months and take an expeditious decision thereon.

Status: A committee was formed and its term extended further. No action even after 9 months.

Metro Rail: The act outlines conducting feasibility study for Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada metro rail within one year and taking decision thereon.

Status: The State government appointed Shri E Sreedharan as the Principal Adviser of the Project. The team will submit the DPR by end of March 2015.

Allocations: 2014-15: None 2015-16: Rs 5.63 crore each.

No allocations were made for Police academy,Greyhounds,Octopus,Marine academy,SDR force setup in the new state. Other areas like Power and water sharing issues,Law & Order of Hyderabad with Governor,High court etc are not discussed here.

OTHER AREAS (Unrelated and outside the purview of Reorganisation Act):

14th Finance Commission: All the state governments receive a share of the central taxes and this allocation formula is reviewed every 5 years by a commission appointed by the President of India. The 14th finance commission’s report(2015-20) was approved by the government. Based on this an additional tax devolution of 10% was given to the states. States would now receive 42% of the central tax pool. AP share would be 4.3%. Even after due representations by the state to the chairman for providing a level playing field, there was no special treatment for Andhra Pradesh bifurcation losses. The state will receive additional grant of Rs 22,113 crore over 5 years to overcome the Revenue deficit. Similar grant is provided to 10 other states. There are additional funds that are allocated over a 5 year period[Rs 10,696 crore for Local bodies and Rs 2429 towards SDRF]. The state would also receive 4 % from the service tax pool. Apart from the above allocation, the center has transferred 24 central schemes to states (to fund partially) and 8 schemes to be fully funded by states.

For 2015-16 the state would receive a tax devolution of Rs 22,637 cr + deficit support 6609 cr = Rs 29,246 crore. (plus other funds for local bodies etc)

13th Finance Commission: State has to receive Rs 2,450 crore before April 2015 for the year 2014-15.

HudHud Cyclone: The state was hit by a devastating cyclone in 2014. The state received a relief package of Rs 737 crore. As per a UN study, AP and Orrisa had a loss of $11 billion(appox Rs67,000 crore) due to the cyclone.

Smart Cities: Vizag was selected as a Smart city. USA agreed to be a lead partner in developing the city. Krishnapatnam was selected in the previous budget. Status: No funds allocated. Not even a single rupee was utilised from the Rs 7000 cr allocated for smart city projects in country in 2014-15 budget. No clarity on allocations in 2015-16.

24/7 Power and Projects: The state along with Rajasthan and Delhi were selected for this pilot scheme. NTPC will build 1000 MW solar projects and a 4000 MW thermal project. State and NTPC have signed MOU.

National Waterway-4: Clearances for this project on Buckingham canal are almost final.This is a Rs 353 crore project.

NOFN: Andhra Pradesh has become the first state to opt for executing the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) on its own and the telecom department will reimburse the cost for the same.

====

In the past 9 months what has come across strikingly is that the actions are not matching the words! Narendra Modi’s commitments made to people of AP during 2014 election campaign still reverberate and await implementation. It needs to be seen on how much allocation will be made outside the budget provisions.

Andhra Pradesh has hard-working human resources,Intellectual capital,vast coastline and natural resources. All it needs is adequate and timely support from the Central government to attain a level playing field with the neighboring states. As the old adage goes “A stitch in time saves nine”, and it is high time for the central government to take the people of Andhra Pradesh into confidence and act steadfastly to fulfill the promises. Effective communication with all the stakeholders of the state would go a long way in allaying fears and misgivings.

After the budget, CM said “I am positive thinker and continue to believe that Modi would address AP’s problems.”.

With positivity we hope that the Prime Minister’s “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” mantra will provide impetus to the state to make rapid strides in development.

“Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” is meant in a community sense. If you mean special status wise, then other states asking for the same, with even more valid and pressing reasons are much ahead in the queue. are they to be ignored just for pleasing slippery naidu??

All the support is expected in one or two budget allocations?? and like the pakis said for their bum, should the rest of the country eat grass??

The bifurcation was a sonia driven agenda for reasons well known and these reasons have originated extra territorially. This is why the bifurcation was pushed through even in the face of massive objections. Yes there were historical reasons too but the primary driver during the bifurcation stage was sonia. In telengana, the expected gains by another minority group as well as the expected gains by the naxalites shut a lot of mouths there.

The BJP had to support the bifurcation or lose electoral support in many other places because of a very hostile media. It was a damned if you do and a damned if you don't situation for the BJP.

The question that begs asking is why the scamgress did not make or provide budgetary support for all this before they left. After all, they made one partial budget and queered the pitch for the BJP before they left.

The BJP under the LKA influence just did not have the testicular fortitude to oppose the bifurcation, so close to the elections without taking a massive hit.

If the BJP had wholeheartedly supported the bifurcation, it would have happened much much before.

[chetak]

It is clear now BJP with either delay quite a bit or even never act upon on the promises in AP re-org act. What is the end game they are going for?

- They are telling to CBN, that he will not be treated as Alludu (son-in-law) and get away whatever he does, but treat him a son and he too have responsibilities.
- They want CBN to tone down grand capital. BJP is willing to fund political/administrative capital and demanding exact buildings and layouts to fund them. But CBN is adamant to build another Singapore and expecting a blank cheque from Modi.
- BJP wants to hit money bags (speculators) who thought they will become ultra rich within a year or two. Now every delay in new capital formation will hit land hoarders and speculators, because some of that money is brought on high interests. At present India is need of genuine investors and wealth creators, not speculators.

JMT.

surprise! surprise!! most of the heavy weight "money bags (speculators)" are congis and sonia type termites.

[RamaY]

It is clear now BJP with either delay quite a bit or even never act upon on the promises in AP re-org act. What is the end game they are going for?

- They are telling to CBN, that he will not be treated as Alludu (son-in-law) and get away whatever he does, but treat him a son and he too have responsibilities.
- They want CBN to tone down grand capital. BJP is willing to fund political/administrative capital and demanding exact buildings and layouts to fund them. But CBN is adamant to build another Singapore and expecting a blank cheque from Modi.
- BJP wants to hit money bags (speculators) who thought they will become ultra rich within a year or two. Now every delay in new capital formation will hit land hoarders and speculators, because some of that money is brought on high interests. At present India is need of genuine investors and wealth creators, not speculators.

JMT.

+100 sir.

Sorry for the comparison but NiKu started this model (demanding funds & special status) and we see where he ended with MAD. Looks like Kejriwal is also on this path.

[chetak]

It is clear now BJP with either delay quite a bit or even never act upon on the promises in AP re-org act. What is the end game they are going for?

no end game here, saar. the focus has simply shifted away to more pressing matters and all are waiting for naidu to precipitate some crises and commit political hara kiri. The man simply does not have the money himself or the support of willing financiers to rise again. His reckless ambition has far outstripped his ability.

The Bhagavad Gita, chapter 2, verse 63...

krodhad bhavati sammohah
sammohat smrti-vibhramah
smrti-bhramsad buddhi-naso
buddhi-nasat pranasyati

[Muppalla]

Real problem is crackdown on benami transaction in real estate . Second is the genuine one and that is Polavaram. Rest is all hawa hawa.

[RamaY]

What CBN missing (or trying to be over smart) in the whole equation is that by giving another 10% tax revenues and grants to cover revenue deficit more than RS 1,25,000 Crores additional money AP is going to get compared to the situation a year ago.

But CBN is discounting this fact, because other states are also (especially TG) benefiting from the increased states share in tax revenues and demanding another 1L crore on top of it.

What he is missing to understand is that by implementing 14th financial commission recommendations, the center lost more than RS 250,000 Crores in this year alone.

He is trying to push (thru his nonsense) center to take more fiscal deficit (if it were to accept his demands) which would have larger impact on enter nation's economy.

He is trying to put the economic well being of the nation in the dustbin for his political gains.

I am disappointed.

[Muppalla]

Long time BJP supporter, my cousin mass forwarded this email:

"After looking at the allocations in budget to AP and the fact that special status to AP is officially not going to happen I am going to say - I hate BJP, Modi Sucks and Time has come for AP people to look for alternatives to TDP if they won't get off central govt..."

Ask him to list those alternatives away from BJP and TDP. People have become extremely impatient and no one wants to give time because it only takes 140 chars to vent.

Jagan is hounded by ED like there is no tomorrow. Recently they have attached another 200cr (base value but market value is 1K cr). They want to go back to Congress? AP ites have become cynical due to bifurcation but they need to find solution in the avenues they have. Hate or love the best bets they have are TDP and BJP.

[wasu]

Taking care of the Speculators/Benami transactions will help, but BJP is losing/will lose the perception war here. They could have picked one or two from the long list of promises in the re-org act (Polavaram for example) so that they can say they are doing something. It looks like they want to hold back everything for now. Give nothing. Why? At some point, something has to give. Is the goal to push CBN to the brink and break off the alliance with TDP?

[a_bharat]

It is strange how people are finding all sorts of excuses to support BJP's treachery w.r.t AP. People are intelligent enough to know that not all poll promises will be delivered. But they do have some minimum expectations: in AP's case, Polavaram project and Special Status are the minimum deliverables from the BJP central govt -- the latter doesn't involve much of fiscal management issues. If BJP doesn't quickly act on at least these two issues, BJP will face people's anger just the way Congress did in 2014.

[chetak]

It is strange how people are finding all sorts of excuses to support BJP's treachery w.r.t AP. People are intelligent enough to know that not all poll promises will be delivered. But they do have some minimum expectations: in AP's case, Polavaram project and Special Status are the minimum deliverables from the BJP central govt -- the latter doesn't involve much of fiscal management issues. If BJP doesn't quickly act on at least these two issues, BJP will face people's anger just the way Congress did in 2014.

saar, what exactly is the stake of BJP in AP?? will the numbers ever be meaningful enough to matter??

[Muppalla]

Special status to AP as a money bill will not even pass Rajya Sabha. There will be serious "running to well" type disruptions in LS. See the clauses of special status and that means zero investments in TN, KA and off course TG.

Polavaram should have been funded and that is a genuine one.

The worst casualty is communication. The center should bite the bullet and say these promises we cannot keep. These things we did and these things will do with a timeline to shut everyone forever. For some reason BJP is playing a political game with CBN.

[chetak]

Long time BJP supporter, my cousin mass forwarded this email:

"After looking at the allocations in budget to AP and the fact that special status to AP is officially not going to happen I am going to say - I hate BJP, Modi Sucks and Time has come for AP people to look for alternatives to TDP if they won't get off central govt..."

Ask him to list those alternatives away from BJP and TDP. People have become extremely impatient and no one wants to give time because it only takes 140 chars to vent.

Jagan is hounded by ED like there is no tomorrow. Recently they have attached another 200cr (base value but market value is 1K cr). They want to go back to Congress? AP ites have become cynical due to bifurcation but they need to find solution in the avenues they have. Hate or love the best bets they have are TDP and BJP.

the driving force for the hounding of jagan is naidu. well deserved hounding, of course but still it is naidu who solely expects to gain.

Has anybody a good enough reason as to why exactly the BJP backtracked from it's rather enthusiastic support to naidu earlier to it's very tepid reaction now??

It must be something big that naidu did or did not do.

[RamaY]

Chetakji

JMHT! Given the state of economy, the center realized that it cannot treat anyone special. All the seven NE states got less funds than AP to cover revenue receipts.

In addition to that center foregone >2.5lakh crore to states.

From now onwards it will be project based support, that too when a project aligns with national agenda.

Everything else is a state item. And AP is getting more than 1.2L crore additional tax revenue over next 5yrs.

Like all other CMs CBN has to make his fortunes. Center will not make his fortune/legacy for him.

Times have changed.

[Vayutuvan]

What is the significance of special Status? What advantage does the state get? What is the cost to the Indian Ex-chequer?

[a_bharat]

Special status just gives some (central) tax incentives for industries -- this gives a leg up to the state over its neighbours in attracting private sector investment in the state. Doesn't cost much (centre would have to forego some future taxes for a limited period).

[Vayutuvan]

Ramay: in five years can cbn slowly build up the capital as well as attract improve infra with that extra 1.2 laksha kOTlu? If he can do that then he is well on his way to be the CM for ten years in 2019. Let us see if the man for the vision. I would not write the man off that quickly. For some reason I think he is a genuine person. Every one but every one wants to leave their personal legacy and wants the history to treat them kindly. In that sense -unsurprisingly - CBN is not an exception. He is educated and suave man and still has a little bit of right left in him.

[Vayutuvan]

A_bharat thanks.

[Muppalla]

the driving force for the hounding of jagan is naidu. well deserved hounding, of course but still it is naidu who solely expects to gain.

Has anybody a good enough reason as to why exactly the BJP backtracked from it's rather enthusiastic support to naidu earlier to it's very tepid reaction now??

It must be something big that naidu did or did not do.

BJP is just treating all the regional satraps as pawns. For them there is no difference between a Mufti and a Naidu or a Thakarey or a Pawar. They are just in the process of "evidence collection" mode of any wrong doing in states by either the leader or the government underneath. Everything will be like a massive list of Essar files or corporate espionage to drown the whole edifice of regional parties along with congress come 2018.

In AP what CBN got is a thin 1.6% majority. BJP is a hated entity because of its association with bifurcation. All these castes being in one party is not a long term thing. There is huge vacuum and the state has no leader at all. So the game is to make people forget bifurcation stuff overtime and get competing castes. I don't think Kapus and Reddys will just stay without political power for long. Either congress has to revive or BJP has to accommodate. On top of it CBN selection of Guntur/VJA is a blessing for everyone. Though there are several investments in other districts the most visible is activity around the grand capital. It is considered as some Kammas conquer of Telugu lands. Whatever can be facts the perception is not going to die or will not be allowed to die .

So fishing in ugly backwaters is going on. Keep Jagan on a tight leash until CBN loses complete temper and get out of NDA. Use Pawan Kalyan (Jana Sena) as some catalyst but not get bruised like other BJP leaders (Venkiah Naidu) becoming fall guys for not delivering promises. Also don't put all eggs in purely Reddy/Kapu basket. Have good humor with another useless Jayaprakash (LOKSATTA).
My hunch is:
(1) get TRS into NDA which will make guaranteed exit of TDP
(2) arrest jagan and all his associated lock stock barrel. This will encroach a lots of congress past. Reddy will just park into BJP
(3) now unleash the three wives Pawan Kalyan as some hero of Telugu dharmic world

That will put fultu caste crap where BJP can become a force taking over all the residual junk from erstwhile congress and YSRC. Now delivery pressures and the massive capital in KG area will bring fence sitter out of CBN.

To checkmate CBN, BJP is putting damn pressure to pass anti-conversion law and also push all RSS/VHP types to temple committees. This will make all cross holders hate CBN and when they ditch TDP, he can't even shop for votes for the seculars.

All I can say is a dangerous and ugly game is being plotted. Venkiah Naidu in his life time never gave such a crappy press conf and literally got abused by Telugu media . (a fall guy role).

[chetak]

Chetakji

JMHT! Given the state of economy, the center realized that it cannot treat anyone special. All the seven NE states got less funds than AP to cover revenue receipts.

In addition to that center foregone >2.5lakh crore to states.

From now onwards it will be project based support, that too when a project aligns with national agenda.

Everything else is a state item. And AP is getting more than 1.2L crore additional tax revenue over next 5yrs.

Like all other CMs CBN has to make his fortunes. Center will not make his fortune/legacy for him.

Times have changed.

Sirji,

these things I understand and these are all in the public domain.

Something else has happened to sour the relationship between naidu and the BJP. Naidu is trying psychological warfare by lambasting the BJP publicly and this is not the normal tactic of a politician unless in extremis.
NiKu destroyed himself just like this and under similar circumstances and with the very same adversaries and naidu is too shrewd not to learn quickly.

naidu's much vaunted management skills were propped up by enormous amounts of freely available ABV largesse. If he does not operate in such an unaccountable and opulently benevolent environment he may flop and expose himself big time.

[kmkraoind]

What is the significance of special Status? What advantage does the state get? What is the cost to the Indian Ex-chequer?

IMO, special status means lower excise duty or tax holiday for companies that comes in AP.

Its a zero sum game, all companies who wants to mint money will either move to AP from TG, KA and TN areas, so central govt will get less money, because most of the companies will move base from other states to AP. Here other states will get pissed off, because here only relocation is happening. Here AP gains at the cost of other states.

In worst case scenario, some of these companies will not even more their base operations, but move their HQs or administrative units to AP, just to claim tax benefits. Here central govt will get less funds and even AP will not benefit from these Post Box companies.

I think central govt will move on Polavaram after they clear LAB bill in parliament. Still now land for Polavaram dam has not acquired completely. Without all approvals, dam work cannot be started. Medha type crooks will file cases in courts to stop dam work without complete land acquisition. Even if central govt allots some funds (in this budget year), either they will relapse (if they remain in central books) or AP govt will divert these funds to other purposes. In either case, blaming NDA/Modi govt on Polavaram is not wise. Let give them time to sort out other issues.

Even the present meager 300 crore allotment by NDA govt is just to sustain salary and other small sundry expenses of Polavaram project.

[ramki]

I don't know what is the problem in funding of polavaram project. If it is about getting credit for the project every one in andhra it needs to be done by central govt and all the credit will go to the Modi govt. CBN has repeatedly told this project will be handled by central govt.
so far there is zero initiation from central govt. and zero allocation of budget. if Modi govt handles this project well he will be remembered b andhra for a very long time and BJP party can be a major force in near force. Allocating such a low amount shows the careless attitude of Modi govt.

[RamaY]

Ramay: in five years can cbn slowly build up the capital as well as attract improve infra with that extra 1.2 laksha kOTlu? If he can do that then he is well on his way to be the CM for ten years in 2019. Let us see if the man for the vision. I would not write the man off that quickly. For some reason I think he is a genuine person. Every one but every one wants to leave their personal legacy and wants the history to treat them kindly. In that sense -unsurprisingly - CBN is not an exception. He is educated and suave man and still has a little bit of right left in him.

That's what a smart man would do. Let's see if CBN is a smart man.

So far he is showing ati-telivi. Over smartness.

[chetak]

Special status just gives some (central) tax incentives for industries -- this gives a leg up to the state over its neighbours in attracting private sector investment in the state. Doesn't cost much (centre would have to forego some future taxes for a limited period).

Karnataka and TN are in the sights of the BJP. Don't know how much success they will have but they certainly won't muddy the waters and cut their own throat by driving the investment out of these to states to neighboring "special status" AP

[RamaY]

I don't know what is the problem in funding of polavaram project. If it is about getting credit for the project every one in andhra it needs to be done by central govt and all the credit will go to the Modi govt. CBN has repeatedly told this project will be handled by central govt.
so far there is zero initiation from central govt. and zero allocation of budget. if Modi govt handles this project well he will be remembered b andhra for a very long time and BJP party can be a major force in near force. Allocating such a low amount shows the careless attitude of Modi govt.

I don't think Polavaram has any issue per se. I think the reasons are following for putting it on back burner.

Center has very limited funds this year. Polavaram being for 2nd/3rd crop guarantee project for Krishna delta. There are more important projects which are needed elsewhere to guarantee 1st crop.

On top of it ~30K acres are taken out of Krishna delta for the proposed capital. This will free enough water to stabilize 60-90K acres for 2nd/3rd crop.

I don't think Polavaram for TG & Orissa consent yet. Until that is there, there is no point pumping funds there.

I think they are yet to finalize plans on National Waterways. It may create some design changes in Polavaram.

And most importantly, center is worried about CBN diverting funds to capital nonsense because he is asking for blank checks and not work specific funds. If CBN is honest, he should send very specific work packages to center for funds, as they are asking.

And of course, there is no political urgency in AP till 2018 for BJP. So why hurry now?

[ramki]

Thanks for takng the time and replying for the post.

[chetak]

This certainly will not help naidu's popularity.

Telangana firm bags Andhra Pradesh capital project

Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Satya Vani Projects and Consultants Private Limited (SVPCPL) has bagged the contract to prepare the master plan of the temporary capital of Andhra Pradesh. The agency has been given three weeks to submit a master plan, layout plan, interior design, concept plan and details of the drawings of the buildings to set up the temporary capital. Based on the plans and designs, INCAP will again call for tenders from agencies to take up construction of the temporary capital. The tender process will be completed in another three weeks.

SVPCPL will also act as the project management consultant and ensure that six lakh square feet of built-up area is constructed by June. AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu wants important offices shifted from Hyderabad to the temporary capital in Andhra Pradesh by June 7, a day before the Telugu Desam government completes one year in office after bifurcation of the state. Satya Vani, with its headquarters at Khairatabad in Hyderabad, was one among the five short-listed companies of the total 11 firms in the race.

“The company qualified in the technical stage and it has been finalised to design the temporary capital of AP,” said INCAP vice-chairman Sambasiva Rao. About six lakh square feet of built-up space would be created in the temporary capital to accommodate offices of the AP government to be shifted from Hyderabad.

The location of the temporary capital is yet to be finalised. Though Amaravati township layout in Guntur district was earlier decided as the location, the state government has changed its mind. “Satya Vani was finalised based on its technical qualifications. It executed several projects both in India and abroad,” Mr Rao said.

[Virupaksha]

polavaram got its permissions from orissa and chattisgarh (then MP) somewhere in 70s. Infact ~ 95% of submergence is in andhra pradesh. All the permissions to be given by telangana have been deemed to have given in the ap reorganisation act. Infact due to the notification of giving villages in khammam to AP which came out somewhere in november last year, there is no village or even an acre of telangana land which submerges. Environmental clearances from centre were got in 2005, without that centre could have made it a national project.

http://www.sakti.in/godavaribasin/indira-ICad.htm

The Reservoir formed by the Dam submerges an area of 637 Sq. Kms. (245.6 Sq. Miles), out of which 601 Sq. Kms. (231.8 Sq. Miles) is in Andhra Pradesh, 24.00 Sq. Kms. (9.20 Sq. Miles) is in Madhya Pradesh and 12 Sq. KM (4.60 Sq. Miles) is in Orissa. Under the Reservoir a total number of 250 Villages will also get submerged, out of which 233 villages are in Andhra Pradesh, 10 villages are in Madhya Pradesh and 7 villages are in Orissa.

There are issues of land acquisition and people rehabilitation. The narmada judgement means proper construction cannot start without that phase completing. This phase is more bureacratic rather than cost intensive. also with the state division and all, ap govt is not working 100%

[wasu]

Yes, Polavaram is the low-hanging fruit. If BJP didn't even yield on that, they must have decided that nothing will be given NOW. Pawan Kalyan has an emergency mtg with CBN yesterday. I guess time for him to "Question" BJP. The next chapter begins now.

[Virupaksha]

wasu,

as of now ball is in state's hands. Acquisition, relocation & rehabilitation come under state's purview not centre and until state completes it, centre has no role.

Dont forget that the state has to follow UPA's land acquisition act with 70% agreement and all such court cases. Realistically do not expect the project to be completed before 2020 at the minimum, my guess around 2025.

[chetak]

Yes, Polavaram is the low-hanging fruit. If BJP didn't even yield on that, they must have decided that nothing will be given NOW. Pawan Kalyan has an emergency mtg with CBN yesterday. I guess time for him to "Question" BJP. The next chapter begins now.

It's going to cost a bomb with the land compensation, will become a media circus with farmers wailing and medha phatkar and her naxal gang piling on and it will have a long gestation, take a long time with no easy political returns even in the near or middle term. even returns for 2019 may not benefit anyone. Three state govts and three political parties pulling each their own way. maybe naidu should seek world bank or some japanese consortium funding to prove his good intentions.

if naidu did not make a difference, how will kalyan do so??

naidu is fighting for his own gains to the detriment of AP. If AP was truly his only concern then his approach would have been more conciliatory and flexible .

He has also badly misjudged this BJP govt after having had his way with bullying the previous one.

[wasu]

Chetak/Virupaksha, CBN will go to town blaming BJP (as he already did yesterday after budget) that they are not delivering on even a single promise. If Polavaram is used as an example, he will just say it is a "national project" and not moving because centre did not allocate any funds. Aam janata will not get into the real execution details.

[chetak]

Chetak/Virupaksha, CBN will go to town blaming BJP (as he already did yesterday after budget) that they are not delivering on even a single promise. If Polavaram is used as an example, he will just say it is a "national project" and not moving because centre did not allocate any funds. Aam janata will not get into the real execution details.

Wasu ji, The BJP will definitely take a big hit but thanks to naidu, they have very little stake anyway due to the less number of seats given by naidu but at the same time naidu will not escape without major damage, maybe damage enough to sink him for ever. Other parties hoping to align with the center will also go after naidu. Jagan is now looking at free food and free accommodation in secure government quarters for a long time and if anyone, only the BJP may be able to save him.( of course, for a price ).

naidu is starting a game of strip poker completely naked with no cards in his hands. He has to get the farmers out of the way for the Polavaram project to start. The agitation alone is enough to damage him for the next elections and he has not even started the land acquisition yet. The BJP will CERTAINLY not get involved in any land acquisition under any circumstances. They will get damaged nationally by the commies and all other parties and the hostile DDM who have only the intention to make sure that NaMo does not return in 2019. the ball is very squarely in naidu's court.

aam jantha will be manaoved during the run up to the 2019 elections and that will be long after naidu has been well and truly sunk.

jagan may be contained only and only if naidu behaves, otherwise jagan may easily be let loose to sort out naidu who was badly humiliated by jagan's baap YSR. With the threat of prison shackles off and the existing EJ support to jagan, naidu will find it very hard to tackle the BJP. jagan has repeatedly shown his willingness to align with the BJP. There are some dairy and milk processing plant issues that may still haunt naidu and can easily become a nightmare for him. These are heritage issues

[Rony]

^^

That may be true in BRF world but not in real world. If you want to see whats happening in real world, listen or read Telugu media (if you can read or understand Telugu that is). BJP has completely lost the perception game here. Of course since BJP had no base in the first place in AP, it may not hurt much in short term.Before BJP is considered morally superior to Congress at least among some middle classes. Now, the perception is going even in moral sense that BJP=Congress=Delhi which wants to hinder Andhra's growth. This is even in pro-BJP hindutva people.All these chankian explanations and some grand strategy by BJP in Andhra is just a hot gas. The BJP leaders in the state are incompetent. Had they had such brains, BJP would not be in this situation in the first place. Without strong BJP local leadership, Central BJP tactics can take you only so far. Had anyone seen Venkayya's press conference ? That is the state of BJP. I see even seasoned gurus think thats its intentional fall guy roll. lets hope it is for BJP's and our blood pressures sake . But i think he genuinely goofed up and the press conference accurately captures the state of BJP in AP.

[SandeepA]

TDP is going to town with its campaign that AP got an unfair deal. BJP is not even making the right noises anymore. AP will be a lost cause soon, no party will want have anything to do with the BJP for a long time. Almost everyone in my extended family/friends voted BJP/TDP in 2014 now I am the only supporter left!