The CM Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government on Friday, July 26, released a white paper on the estimated losses incurred by the state under the previous YSRCP government under Jagan Mohan Reddy.
As per the white paper released by the TDP government, potential wealth creation worth Rs 2 lakh crore was lost due to the stalling of Amaravati development works (the capital region). Around seven lakh jobs would have been generated in the capital region of Amaravati if the development works were not brought to a grinding halt, the Chief Minister said.
For the capital city project, nearly 29,966 farmers had voluntarily given up 34,400 acres of land. However, after Jagan came to power in 2019, these works were stopped and a proposal to make a three-capital city project was under consideration.
According to the government, the state suffered an estimated loss of Rs 52,900 crore due to mismanagement in the Polavaram project.
While a loss of Rs 45,000 is estimated for allegedly delaying supply of water to ayacut areas, Rs 4,900 crore was lost due to damages and repair works, and another Rs 3,000 crore due to delay in hydel power generation.
The government said that the debt of the state increased from Rs 3.75 lakh crore to Rs 9.74 lakh crore in the last five years due to various policy changes brought in by the previous government including the “destruction of Amaravati and Polavaram”.
According to the TDP government, the alleged illegal sand mining led to a loss of more than Rs 7,000 crore. They said that the government lost Rs 9,750 crore in mineral revenue due to “looting” of mineral wealth. The government also incurred a loss of Rs 20,676 crore due to mismanagement and rerouting of funds from the state exchequer by the Excise department, the report said.
So far, the government has released seven white papers to the public, to “show the extent of the damage” committed by former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that the state’s growth rate was at 13.5% under the TDP government in 2014-19, which declined to 10% between 2019-2023 under Jagan.
The report claimed that the state lost Rs 6.94 lakh crore because of the reduced growth rate. Had the growth rate of 13.5% continued, the state would have got additional revenue of Rs 76,195 cr, it said.