Andhra Pradesh CM praises Union Budget as growth and development oriented

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday termed the Union Budget as "growth and development oriented" and hailed the priority accorded to infrastructure building.

"The Union Budget, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, denotes a positive trend. It is growth and development oriented. Top priority has been accorded to infrastructure building with a foresight," Naidu said.

The Union Finance Minister had an onerous task of setting right a bad economy that was "inherited" from the previous Congress-led UPA government, he said.

"The Finance Minister has the responsibility of turning the economy positive that was on a reverse trend (during the UPA rule) and he tried to do the same," the AP Chief Minister said.

Hailing the new initiatives announced in the Budget, the AP Chief Minister said that the proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor would help Andhra Pradesh emerge as a developed state like Gujarat.

"The Hardware Park proposed at Kakinada will address unemployment and provide jobs to scores of local youths. Premier institutions like AIIMS and IIT announced in the Budget will make AP a knowledge society," Naidu said. The Chief Minister also welcomed the decision to enhance income tax exemption limit for employees, women and senior citizens.