'Revenue deficit to be brought down to 19%'

Terming that his government had the distinct disadvantage of inheriting a completely debt-trapped state of economy, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, however, maintained that the state government had done a commendable job in the last eight months on the fiscal management side by reducing the revenue deficit.

The revenue deficit was brought down from 44 per cent of total loans raised between1994 and 2004 to 26 per cent in the current financial year.

"It will be further brought down to 19 per cent during the year 2005-06, which means that other than Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh will be the only major state that is on course to eliminate the revenue deficit completely by 2006-07," Shinde said, while addressing the State Legislative Assembly on the opening day of the Budget session on Monday.

"Reversal of the mounting revenue deficit will go a long way in increasing the public investment, which will favourably impact the private investments as there is enough evidence of the fact that higher public investments are responsible for catalysing larger private investments," the Governor said.

In his 50 minute-long speech, which occasionally witnessed protests from the opposition Telugu Desam members, the Governor strongly justified the recent decision of the state government modifying the free power scheme, by saying that exclusion of certain sections from the scheme was based on the universally-accepted principle that no scheme of subsidy should constitute a source of profit to a section of society that has already been enjoying a competitive edge in life.

On the naxalite issue, the Governor said that his government was firm on its resolve to continue the talks, as peace will be long-enduring only when it is the result of dialogue and negotiations.

Shinde said that bringing the various naxal groups to the negotiating table itself was a big achievement, and maintained that the first round of talks, even according to naxalite leaders, was successful.

Referring to projects like the Hyderabad International Airport and the Gangavarm Port, Shinde said that the state government was giving top priority to the development of infrastructure like roads, ports, airports and public transport, which will lead to a surge in economic growth and bring prosperity to the people.

He also said that the new ITeS and investment policies would accelerate the growth of the IT sector in the state with tier-2 cities like Visakhapatnam would also make domestic industry competitive.

Reaffirming the government's commitment to the irrigation sector, Shinde said that out of the 2,745 tmc of total water potential of the state, at 75 per cent dependability, the utilisation so far stood at only at 1,700 tmc with more than 3,000 tmc of water going into the sea every year.