Cash transfers to farmers, SHG women in Andhra's vote-on-account budget

Despite new schemes and increased allocations to existing social sector programmes, state govt was able to project a revenue surplus for the first time since state's bifurcation

With assembly elections around the corner, the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday presented a vote-on-account budget with an estimated expenditure of Rs 2.26 trillion for the financial year 2019-20, up 18.38 per cent over the revised estimates of the current year.

Despite the announcement of new schemes and increased allocations to existing social sector programmes, the government was able to project a revenue surplus -- of Rs 2,099.47 crore in this budget -- for the first time since the bifurcation of the state.  The budget estimates include Rs 1.80 trillion in revenue expenditure and Rs 29,596 crore in capital expenditure. 

Of the