Govt justifies huge outlay for irrigation

Justifying the importance given to the irrigation sector in the annual plan outlay for the year 2006-07, the Andhra Pradesh government has said it considers irrigation as an important growth engine.

Addressing a media conference here on Tuesday, major irrigation minister Ponnala Laxmaiah said the irrigation sector was key to the state's development. The allocation of Rs 10,000 crore to irrigation, which is 51 per cent of state's total plan outlay, was higher than those of 18 states in the country, he added.

Citing statistics, the minister said Andhra Pradesh climbed to the top slot surpassing Maharashtra and Karnataka in spending on the irrigation sector after the Congress government came to power in 2004.

"In 2003-04, the last year of the TDP rule, the state spent Rs 1, 828 crore while Karnataka topped the list by spending Rs 2,894 on the irrigation sector. The entire country's expenditure on the sector amounted to Rs 15,891 crore that year," he said.

According to the minister, from 2004-05 onwards, Andhra's annual spending on irrigation surpassed other states. In the first year of its tenure, the state government spent Rs 4,002 crore as against the country's outlay of Rs 21,232 crore. In 2005-06, it further went up to Rs 6,300 crore as against Rs 26,042 crore spent in the entire country during the year.

Of the total Rs 63,000 crore spent on the irrigation sector in the country during the Ninth Plan period, Maharashtra alone accounted for Rs 16,000 crore whereas Andhra's expenditure during the five-year period was just Rs 5,200 crore, he pointed out.

Replying to a question, the minister said that the funds from the plan outlay would flow to irrigation projects in stages depending on their progress. Of the total budget for the irrigation sector, 37 per cent was earmarked for coastal Andhra, 19 per cent for Rayalaseema and 43 per cent for the Telangana regions, he added.