NITI Aayog exposes how AP was destroyed under Jagan

After bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the country during 2014-19 when Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister. Unfortunately, the state finances were badly impacted in the last five years under the regime of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Due to anti-industry policies, raising debts and lack of fiscal prudence, the economy of Andhra Pradesh deteriorated and reached an all time low by the time when Jagan stepped down from the chair. Central Government think-tank NITI Aayog has now exposed the same in its latest report in which Andhra Pradesh languished at the bottom of the table on several key financial indices.

NITI Aayog’s fiscal health index for the period 2022-2023 sheds more light on how Andhra Pradesh economy was destroyed by Jagan Mohan Reddy’s bad policies and lack of foresight. In its report covering 18 major States that drive the Indian economy in terms of their contribution to India’s GDP, demography, total public expenditure, revenues, and overall fiscal stability, NITI Aayog ranked states based on their performance.

Andhra Pradesh was among the worst performing states with FHI score of 20.9 and stood at 17th place out of 18 states. While Odisha and Chattisgarh topped the table, Punjab secured the last position. In terms of quality of expenditure, AP didn’t perform well and lagged behind many other states. What is more shocking is that the state was awarded zero points in Debt Sustainability and a very low Debt index which point to the dismal status of the financial position.

Coming to Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Prudence, Andhra Pradesh was awarded a score 22.1 and 13.3, which is among the poor performing states. The report highlighted the weak debt profile of the state and raises many concerns with respect to the economy and the finances.

Immediately after assuming charge as CM, Chandrababu Naidu released a white paper on the state finances and alleged that Jagan pushed the state into a debt trap. The NITI Aayog report further exposes how the state was destroyed in the last five years.