Amaravati: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy criticised Opposition Leader N Chandrababu Naidu for making "false" allegations about the World Bank's funding to Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking during the budget debate in Assembly on Monday, the Minister issued clarifications and said that the World Bank was ready to support the development of Amaravati and would grant Rs 5,000 crore.

In 2017 and 2018, World Bank representatives visited Amaravati, and after their interaction with farmers and NGOs, they received several complaints about the corruption and land grabbing that happened in Amaravati. Thereafter, the TDP government did not respond to a report submitted by the World Bank representatives, which is why the Rs 3500 crore funding was withheld, he explained.

The World Bank supports sustainable infrastructure and institutional development of Amaravati. On October 8, 2016, the AP government submitted proposals to the Finance Ministry seeking assistance from the World Bank for the development of Amaravati. The request for project funding, however, was renewed on May 25, 2017, and was registered in June. The DAA had cleared a loan proposal for funding from the World Bank and the Asian Bank for Investment Bank.

However, it is clear in all respects that the previous government completely ignored the negative, environmental, social, and economic impacts of the urban development model. The World Bank recommended that an independent team should investigate the project before it was approved.

Because the Central Government had strongly objected to the World Bank's approach, they stalled the Rs. 3500 crore funding. Recently the World Bank has evinced its interest to extend financial assistance for the Human Development Platform for Andhra Pradesh, he said.

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