The Congress government in Telangana led by chief minister A Revanth Reddy has cleared long pending dues to the extent of Rs 2,500 crore to be paid to the Andhra Pradesh government led by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, at last.
The payment was made as a follow-up of the discussions between the two chief ministers who had met in Hyderabad last month.
Apparently, the Central government, too, had to intervene in the dispute and suggest to the Telangana government to clear the dues to be paid to Andhra Pradesh.
The dues were with regard to payment of principal and interest on the loans taken by the combined Andhra Pradesh government for the construction of inner ring road and Hussainsagar beautification project under externally-aided projects (EAP).
Since the loans were taken in the name of Andhra Pradesh government, the accounts in the financial institutions were transferred to the present Andhra Pradesh government even after the bifurcation.
As a result, the Andhra Pradesh government was forced to pay principal and interest on the loans, though the assets are being used by the Telangana government.
As per the AP Reorganisation Act, Telangana has to pay 42% of the loan amount to Andhra Pradesh government.
However, in the last 10 years, the Telangana government has not been paying any amount to the Andhra government towards its 42% share of the EAP loans.
After prolonged negotiations, the Revanth Reddy government has agreed to pay the dues to the extent of Rs 2,500 crore to the Naidu government, as per the directions of the Union finance ministry. The amount was credited to AP exchequer on Friday.
