Naidu meets Jaitley, demands more funds for Andhra

New Delhi, Jan 17: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and demanded a special financial package, citing the revenue deficit which the state is facing after the bifurcation. 

The Chief Minister also extended a formal invitation to Mr Jaitley to attend the CII partnership summit to be held on 24-26 in Visakhapatnam next month. 
Mr Naidu had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12 in Delhi and submitted various demands before him including sufficient fund allocation from the central budget, and special package for the Polavaram project. 
“We discussed mainly two issues with the Finance Minister. First, we asked for the remaining amount from Rs. 16,000 crores which the Centre had promised as a special package to overcome the revenue deficit. The state has received just Rs. 4,000 crores so far. Second to allocate more funds from NABARD and HUDCO”, Mr Naidu said after the meeting with Mr Jaitley. The Finance Minister responded positively, he said.
He demanded a speedy decision to resume the works of Polavaram project, which was delayed. Mr Naidu also demanded urgent steps to increase the number of seats in the state Assembly from 175 to 225 as committed in the state Reorganisation Act. 
Mr Naidu also demanded a separate Railway zone in the Union Budget, with Visakhapatnam as headquarters. 
Earlier in the day the Andhra Chief Minister addressed the curtain raiser of the CII partnership summit 2018 here. 
Addressing the gathering of delegates from various countries, Mr Naidu said “We are building a greenfield capital, Amaravati which will have immense possibilities for investments. It will be a clean, green and blue city with electric vehicles running. People in Amaravati will have life expectancy more by 10 years”.
The Chief Minister invited business to set up industries in the state and assured them support from the government. He said the state offers immense opportunities in various sectors. 
Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu also attended the summit. Addressing the gathering Mr Prabhu said, “Andhra Pradesh is one of the fastest growing, forward looking states led by a dynamic Chief Minister”. “On my recent visit to Russia, business delegations there were enquiring about Amaravati. Andhra Pradesh is one of the most sought after states for investments”. 
AP is promoting industries in an unprecedented way with unprecedented policies, he added. UNI