AP races to unlock Central funds

Amaravati: The state government has launched a major exercise to improve utilisation of Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) funds, recover cancelled allocations and implement reforms needed to unlock additional Central incentives, as part of a broader financial restructuring exercise.

At a review with collectors, finance department principal secretary Piyush Kumar and secretary D Ronald Rose said 86 CSS schemes were being implemented during 2026-27. Against a Central allocation of Rs 25,304 crore, the State had received Rs 10,552 crore so far. Including previous unspent balances and other adjustments, Rs 18,516 crore was currently available with implementing departments, of which Rs 8,694 crore (47 per cent) had been spent by September 7.

The panchayat raj and rural development department had the largest available pool at Rs 7,440 crore but had utilised only 38 per cent. Housing spent 26 per cent of its Rs 829 crore, while water resources utilised just 6 per cent of Rs 28 crore. In contrast, BC Welfare recorded 99 per cent utilisation, spending Rs 313 crore out of Rs 316 crore. District-wise performance also varied sharply. Chittoor topped with 87 per cent utilisation, followed by NTR and West Godavari at 85 per cent. Visakhapatnam recorded 59 per cent, while Vizianagaram was lowest at 52 per cent.

The government has identified Rs 135 crore lying unspent in SNA accounts and ordered tighter banking management. As many as 88 idle SNA accounts across 20 departments are to be closed immediately.Officials were also directed to pursue the Centre for re-release of Rs 116.98 crore in cancelled mother sanctions, including funds for PMAY-Urban, BC scholarships, NRLM-RSETI and used-water management. AP is eligible for Rs 8,226 crore under SASCI 2026-27, of which Rs 3,486 crore has already been received. The government is implementing reforms to secure the remaining Rs 3,525 crore, including mining reforms, Telecom RoW integration, AgriStack digitisation, livestock data entry and SNA-SPARSH reforms. The exercise could also unlock Rs 650 crore through public-health improvements and Rs 175 crore through the Compressed Bio-Gas policy. All prescribed SASCI reforms have been ordered to be completed by December 1, 2026, while departments must immediately release Central funds to districts and remit interest accrued in SNA accounts to the Centre through PFMS.

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