The Hindu Business Line : AP to tap Central, foreign funds for farm projects

The State Irrigation department is poised to add about 7.5 lakh acres under cultivation during the ensuing kharif season this year and has embarked on a process to tap more Central and overseas funding for new projects.

Speaking to Business Line, the State Irrigation Minister, Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, said the addition of about 7.5 lakh acres is significant and accounts for over 10 per cent of the State's irrigation capability estimated at 72 lakh acres.

This will come through from the addition of about 17 irrigation projects, undertaken in the last two years.

As a part of the State's ongoing exercise to bring more acreage under cultivation by harnessing the water resources, the State is now in the process of securing additional funding from Central schemes. This includes about Rs 4,000 crore from the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP).

As against the average annual allocation of Rs 1,000 crore per annum for the sector over the last 10 year up to 2003-2004, the State has allocated a massive Rs 10,000 crore in the budget, which is more than the overall budget of about 17 States in the country. This only reflects the commitment of the State to complete these irrigation projects, he explained.

Referring to the allocation made to various regions in the State over the last two years, the Irrigation Minister said that the Telangana region actually garnered a lion's share of the funds accounting for about Rs 5,300 crore followed by Andhra (Rs 2,660 crore) and Rayalaseema (Rs 2,006 crore). This only shows how we have prioritised spending for Telangana aimed at bringing additional ayacut under cultivation, he said.

As a part of the State Government thrust under the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's administration, the Irrigation and Command Area Departments have prioritised various project implementation and have accorded administrative sanction for projects worth Rs 32,244 crore.

If the State proposal for additional funds from the AIBP programme gets cleared, we would have access to additional funds and the overall spending for the irrigation sector could potentially go up to Rs 12,000 crore this year, he said.

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Andhra Pradesh

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