Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy called on Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here on Thursday and urged her to release the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme) arrears of Rs 2500 crore due to the State besides increasing its credit limit.

The Chief Minister appealed to her to enhance the credit limit of Rs 17,923 crore which was reduced from Rs 42,472 crore in 2021-22 for no fault of the State Government and take steps to ensure that the Telangana government clears Rs 7,058 crore outstanding from the TS Discoms to APGENCO for the power supplied between 2014 and 2017.

He urged her to release the pending amount of Rs 36,625 crore under Resource Gap Funding for the fiscal 2014-15 to the State, sanction Rs 10,000 crore immediately on ad-hoc basis to expedite the construction of the Polavaram Project and another Rs. 2020 crore to fill the scourge pits formed at the main Dam site due to the washing away of diaphragm wall in the flash floods.

AP has so far spent Rs 2,600.74 crore on Polavaram Project from its exchequer, he said and sought the reimbursement of the same from the Central funds and accept the Technical Advisory Committee’s revised estimates of Rs 55,548 crore on Polavaram Project.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, the Chief Minister called on the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urged him to expedite several issues which remained unresolved even nine years after the unscientific bifurcation, pushing the residual Andhra Pradesh backwards in terms of development and revenue.

He also sought reimbursement of the arrears of Rs 2600.74 crore incurred by the State Government on Polavaram Project and accept the Technical Advisory Committee’s revised estimates of Rs 55,548 crore and treat the drinking water supply component as its part.

The Chief Minister told him that the State has incurred a financial burden of Rs 5,527 crore on supplying ration to 56 lakh families under the PMGKAY due to irrational selection of beneficiaries under National Food Security Act. To compensate this, unused ration stocks should be allotted to AP as recommended by NITI Aayog.

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