Amaravati: Agreeing that the dispute raging between the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government over payment of revenue deficit grant for over five years now still remained unresolved, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, however, said it was for the 15th Finance Commission to take a call on the issue and not the Finance Ministry.
She asked the state government to discuss the issue with the 15th Finance Commission and let the latter decide.
"It is unresolved. But it is for the 15th Finance Commission to decide, not the Finance Ministry. I said this also to the state government when the Finance Minister met me," Sitharaman told a press conference
in Vijayawada on Wednesday evening.
During his recent trip to New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy submitted a memorandum to the Centre stating that a sum of Rs 18,830.87 crore was still overdue in the form of revenue deficit grant to the state.
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Post-bifurcation of the state in 2014, the Centre agreed to bridge the revenue gap but pegged the amount at Rs 4,117.89 crore for the financial year 2014-15 whereas the state government, citing a CAG report, claimed the amount was Rs 22,948.76 crore.