Watering Plans

Chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy thought his pet irrigation project was through when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently promised central support for it. The subtext was that New Delhi would chip in with a fiscal assistance of Rs 40,000 crore for the project over a period of five years as demanded by the state. But finance minister P. Chidambaram—in Hyderabad to attend the Congress plenary—was not very categoric on whether funds would be allocated for the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP). He was also vague on whether the various exemptions, sought by the state for loans for the mega project, would be cleared. Finance ministry sources say all the demands of Andhra Pradesh cannot be met though CM Reddy may be actively campaigning for it.