Coffers running dry, Naidu as CM faces huge task to deliver 'Super Six' promise

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu who is set to take the reins of power in Andhra Pradesh shortly will have the daunting task of making bleak coffers ring to fulfill the "Super Six" that his party promised during the run-up to the recently concluded Assembly polls. Naidu is scheduled to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on June 12. As a precursor to his journey of financial challenges, Naidu needs over Rs 4,500 crore to disburse social pensions to about 65 lakh beneficiaries by July 1. As part of his "Super Six", Naidu promised to hike the monthly pension to Rs 4,000 from the existing Rs 3,000 along with a backlog of Rs 3,000 (Rs 1,000 for April, May and June) from July.

All together it would cost the exchequer Rs 4,500 crore in July, besides salaries to employees and pensioners which is pegged at another Rs 6,000 crore. The new TDP government will have to mop up over Rs 10,000 crore to fulfill the financial requirements for July, a retired senior bureaucrat said. According to him, the state government has a committed expenditure of nearly Rs 1.30 lakh crore annually to meet the requirements of salaries, pensions, loan repayments and interests. According to the Reserve Bank website, the Andhra government offered to sell securities worth Rs 2,000 crore on June 11 through auction. The state needs Rs 2,600 crore every month to meet the social pension alone. Similarly, as part of the manifesto, the Telugu Desam Party promised free travel to women in government-run buses.

An official of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation said the APSRTC earns about Rs 450 to Rs 500 crore through ticket revenue monthly and women passengers are expected to be in the range of 35-40 per cent. He, however, said there was no study on women travellers done so far in the state. According to him, the Telangana RTC which implements a similar scheme estimated that women constitute nearly 50 per cent of the total commuters. Towards the free travel scheme, the new government will have to reimburse nearly Rs 2,000 crore annually to the APSRTC.

Under "Super Six," the TDP also promised Rs 15,000 to every school-going child per annum. The outgoing YRS Congress Party government had earmarked Rs 6,500 crore towards a similar scheme called "Amma Vodi." With Naidu removing the cap on the number of beneficiaries, the amount may go up substantially. The party also promised three free cooking gas cylinders to every household per year and Rs 20,000 annual financial assistance to every farmer, among others.

According to the government budget document 2023-24, the state has Rs 4.83 lakh crore public debt (33.3 per cent of GSDP), besides Rs 1.39 lakh crore government guarantees and Rs 26,296 crore of loans from the Centre. The total Revenue Receipts in the Budget (vote-on-account) for 2024-25 are estimated at Rs 2,05,352.19 crore while the expenditure was pegged at Rs 2,30,110.41 crore. While launching the YSRCP manifesto during the run-up to the recently concluded Assembly polls, the outgoing Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged it will cost an exorbitant Rs 1.21 lakh crore per annum to fulfil the TDP's poll promises.