`All style but no substance': YSRCP calls Union Budget 2022 `disappointing'

New Delhi: Terming the Union Budget disappointing, YSRCP said they were expecting a booster dose but it appeared like `all style but no substance'.

Speaking to media here on Tuesday, Parliamentary Party leader V Vijayasai Reddy said: "The allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore for capital expenditure seems huge but when it comes to the state's share as per the set formula Andhra Pradesh gets just 4.047 percent which works out to just Rs 4,000 crore."

In the case of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM), he said while the set norm is not more than 3 percent of the GSDP for states, there is no parity with respect to the Centre on the borrowings. The state is still bearing the brunt of the previous government, he said.

He said the fiscal deficit of the union budget was 9.3 percent for 2020-21, 6.9 percent for 2021-22, and is estimated at 6.4 percent this year, Andhra Pradesh registered a deficit of 5.48 percent and 3.94 percent during the past two years and yet there are strictures on FRBM.

On a positive note, he said that the proposed budget for 2022-23 is nearly Rs. 40 lakh crore, with an increase of Rs 4.5 lakh crore than that of the last fiscal and stated that the country's growth rate for 2021-22 is at 9.2 percent, much better than any other country, especially while fighting Covid. Further, he appreciated the increase in capital expenditure by 35 percent than the previous allocations, where Rs 7.5 lakh crores have been allocated in the current budget which is 20 percent of the budgetary allocations.

Speaking on the interlinking of rivers, he said that the state government had already interlinked Godavari-Krishna Rivers with its own funds and thus appealed to compensate the state.

The state government has been pushing for three development projects which include a dedicated freight corridor from Kharagpur to Vijayawada, freight corridor connectivity to ports in Andhra Pradesh, and Bhogapuram National Highway, but no announcements were made in this regard, he said.

Similarly, he mentioned that no announcements were made towards the development in healthcare sectors and no attention was paid towards research and completely ignored health insurance for the middle-class people.

Regarding agriculture, he said that the Centre has failed to include tenant farmers in PM Kisan. He said the Centre has also ignored paddy procurement policy and MSP for crops. He said the shortfall in GST compensation of states was not addressed in the budget.

He welcomed the increase of tax deduction limit of state employees to 14 percent, duties reduced on shrimp production and aquaculture. He also welcomed the Centre's take on cryptocurrency, as RBI itself is coming up with a digital currency.

However, the party opposed the privatization of profit-making public sector units like the LIC, HPCL, VSP. He also said that there was no encouraging mention of NREGS. The budget also has no mention of health insurance to the middle-income group which forms over 56 percent.

The MP assured that they will be pursuing 10 issues put by the Chief Minister. He said that the issues have already been referred to the committee.