Thiruvananthapuram/Amaravati, Sep 3 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh on Saturday sought tax incentives for industrial development, in line with those extended to states enjoying SCS.

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Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, who represented the state at the 30th Southern Zonal Council meet in Thiruvananthapuram which was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, said growth prospects of AP diminished due to loss of Hyderabad and other industrially-developed areas (consequent to the state bifurcation in 2014).

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"Steps for promoting industrialisation are imperative for the development of the successor state. Section 94 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and assurances made in Parliament provide for tax incentives. The state requests for extending the tax incentives on the lines of those being provided to the special category states (SCS) and north eastern states," the Finance Minister requested.

The incentives would help place development of the state on a firm footing and an accelerated growth trajectory, he added.

"Per contra, no incentives have been provided to AP under Section 94[1] while meagre incentives have been provided, that too for a period five years only, under Section 94[2]," he noted.

Rajendranath said Andhra Pradesh "suffered enormously" for almost a decade from the consequences of bifurcation and non-fulfilment of the "solemn assurances" made.

"It is now universally acknowledged that the division of the state of Andhra Pradesh was made in an unscientific, injudicious and unjust manner. However, even after the lapse of a period of almost a decade, several key provisions of the (APR) Act and assurances are yet to be implemented both in letter and spirit, aggravating the distress resulting from the bifurcation," he lamented.

The minister requested the Centre to consider and put in place a suitably empowered and effective mechanism to take necessary decisions on the pending issues (between AP and Telangana) and monitor their implementation.

Rajendranatha wanted the Centre to exercise powers vested with it and issue necessary orders expeditiously.

The Minister also sought the Centre's continued support for the early completion of Polavaram project, the lifeline of AP, as it was of paramount interest for the overall development of the state.

He urged the Centre to operationalise the new South Coastal Raiwaly Zone, with headquarters in Visakhapatnam, at the earliest as more than three years had elapsed since its announcement.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy could not attend the meeting owing to engagements related to his father's death anniversary on Friday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)