Andhra government fails to present much-hyped agriculture budget

For the past few weeks, the Congress-led Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has been highlighting its commitment to farmers by hyping “the first ever agriculture budget in the history of the state”. The agriculture budget was to be presented along with the state’s budget for the coming fiscal year. But the much-hyped separate budget turned out to be a damp squib. On March 18, the day of the budget announcement, the state agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, could only present an action plan for agriculture and its allied sectors.

Rs 1,86,000 cr illusion

Agreement signed to expedite Pranhita lift irrigation project

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan have signed an agreement to set up an inter-state board (ISB) for speedy execution of the Rs 40,300 crore Pranhita-Chevella lift irrigation project.  The agreement was signed on May 5 in New Delhi in the presence of the Union water resources minister, Pavan Kumar Bansal.