Hyderabad: The Congress government led by Revanth Reddy has introduced a comprehensive budget focusing on welfare and development. Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka's speech began with the recitation of the poem 'Na Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena' by the acclaimed Telugu poet Dasarathi setting a culturally resonant tone for the presentation.
Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka introduced the state's budget of Rs 2,91,159 crore in the Legislative Assembly. The revenue expenditure was Rs 2,20,945 crore while the capital expenditure was announced as Rs 33,487 crore. Rs 72,659 crore has been allocated for key sectors such as agriculture, Rs 29,816 crore for panchayat raj and rural development and Rs 22,301 crore for irrigation.
Bhatti started his budget speech with Dasarathi's poem, 'Naa Telangana Koti Ratanala Veena'. In his budget speech, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka drew attention to the dramatic increase in Telangana's debt since the state's formation. He noted that the debt had surged from Rs 75,577 crore at the inception to Rs 6,71,757 crore by December 2023. This tenfold increase over the last decade, according to Vikramarka, presents a significant challenge in putting the state's economy back on track.
To address this issue, the Finance Minister outlined the government's approach to reducing excess expenditure and following strict financial discipline. He stressed that these measures are crucial for stabilising the crippled economy and ensuring sustainable economic growth for the state.
The debt of Rs 75,577 crore at the time of the formation of the state has reached Rs 6,71,757 crore by December 2023, Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka said. He said that the debt of Telangana state government has increased almost 10 times in the last 10 years
After the formation of the Congress government, Rs 35,118 crore were taken as loans, while he announced that it had paid Rs 42,892 crore, including principal and interest of loans taken by the previous government and so far Rs 34,579 crore has been spent on various schemes. The Deputy CM explained to the House that these schemes include free bus travel for women, 200 units of free electricity, Rythu Bharosa and subsidy on rice
The per capita income of the state is Rs 3,47,299 in 2023-24 at current prices. The national per capita income is Rs 1,83,236. Compared to this, the per capita income of Telangana is Rs 1,64,063. Similarly, the difference between districts in per capita income levels is severe. The per capita income of Rangareddy district is Rs 9,46,862 while the per capita income of Vikarabad district is Rs 1,80,241. In his budget speech, Bhatti said that his government has formulated and implemented various policies to reduce the income gaps between the districts of the state.
''Projects did not give the expected results with the policies of the previous government. We will take corrective measures and build better projects. We will take measures for transparency in the creation of new government jobs and recruitment. Soon we will announce the recruitment plan calendar. The budget is not just a collection of numbers. We have decided to join the PM Fasal Premium Yojana this year. We have decided to give a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal to paddy farmers," the Finance Minister said in the budget speech.
