States to seek debt relief

Faced with a huge debt servicing burden, six states, including Andhra Pradesh, will approach Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking central relief to help them tide over the crisis.

"The growing indebtness is causing concern to several states. We have decided to make joint efforts to persuade the Centre to provide us some relief," Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K Rosaiah told reporters here today.

The six states "" Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and West Bengal "" have decided to jointly take up the issue with the Centre and request for relief, he said, but declined to specify what kind of package would be sought from the Centre.

"We have sought an appointment with the Prime Minister for November 30 to put across our case," Rosaiah said.