Andhra Pradesh CM Spells Out Boutique Airport District Plan, As Debt Trap Allegations Fly

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Jagan Mohan Reddy, on the back of his election promise, has got cabinet approval to carve out 13 new districts in the state each with its own swanky airport, to be completed by the Telugu New Year in April. With the AP economy burdened by people’s rising expectations, Jagan made a slew of announcements to keep people engaged and combat the building opposition onslaught about the state’s progress into an irreversible debt trap, sans any viable revenue generation scope. The joke doing the rounds of the state secretariat is that ‘Andhra Pradesh has turned into ‘Andhera Pradesh’. This probably explains why Jagan announced the development plans on January 21, 2022, pitching for the ‘One District One Airport” initiative and directed officials of the Infrastructure and Investments (I and I) department to expedite the development of the airports in all the 13 new districts of the state including, seven new airports in districts bereft of an airport as of today. Jagan is pulling out all the stops to get the Andhra economy back on track and, also plans to speak to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking central assistance and the speedy clearance of pending projects. Jagan’s, and Andhra Pradesh’s future depends on how the beleaguered state’s turnaround comes about.