Andhra to allocate more funds to irrigation sector

The state government was planning to raise the funds allocated to the irrigation sector from the existing Rs 6,330 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in the coming budget, K Rosaiah, state finance minister, told mediapersons here on Thursday.

"In the 2006-07 budget, the government will allocate more than Rs 10,000 crore to the irrigation sector. Also, we will not reduce the allocations to education, health and social welfare, as compared to the last budget," he said.

In the last budget, the government earmarked Rs 6,330 crore to the irrigation sector, and till January end, it spent more than Rs 4,600 crore.

Rosaiah said that the government would not hike tax rates while allocating more funds to the irrigation sector. However, it would take all necessary steps to increase the tax collections in all departments like commercial taxes, excise, registrations department, and forests by plugging loopholes.

"Through our efforts, we were able to raise Transco's collection to 97 per cent. We would follow the same measures for other departments as well to increase their collections," he added.