Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has asserted that the Telangana government was confident of meeting ₹1,63,000 lakh crore expenditure out of ₹1,82,914 crore Budget outlay for 2020-21 and the remaining ₹20,000 crore will be mobilised through sand and mining resources and upward revision of stamps and registration fee.
Giving a reply during the discussion on Telangana Appropriation Bills in the Legislative Assembly here on Monday, Chief Minister clarified on the doubts expressed by and Congress Legislature Party leader Bhatti Vikramarka. He said government was clear about raising its resources despite the challenges of slowdown of economy and coronovirus impact. The budget was based on realistic estimates, he reiterated.
Government proposed to get revenue of ₹6,000 crore to ₹7,000 crore from the sand mining in the new fiscal as against ₹2,000 crore in 2019-20 and proposed to hike stamps and registration duty, which was not revised in the last six years. Government increased RTC bus fare to help strengthen RTC besides the ₹1,000 crore sanctioned by the State and it would also increase power tariff.
“We said we have to revise power tariff rate to give quality 24x7 power supply. We are not cowards. We stand by what we said,” he said adding people have faith in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi party and hence they have been giving it the mandate repeatedly.
Telangana registered impressive GSDP growth from about ₹5 lakh crore in 2014 to ₹9,69,000 crore. Several sectors like agriculture, power and animal husbandry registered significant growth. Agriculture growth rate increased to 23.7% from – 11.4%. The per capita income of the State was the highest in the country and it was not a claim by the State but endorsed by the CAG itself. The CAG also presented the sector-wise growth registered by the State in the last five years. It was an indication that the capital expenditure made by the State in the last five years on Irrigation, Mission Bhagiratha, yielded results and created wealth.
Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao dismissed the criticism of Congress of increasing debt burden, that touched over ₹3 lakh crore, and said the debts raised were for capital expenditure. “It is a question of economic wisdom. The country with the highest debt is US and Japan’s debt is 400% more than that of its GDP. But it became one of the top economic powers,” he said. Of over ₹ 2 lakh crore debts raised in the last five years, ₹1 lakh crore was spent on irrigation and agriculture sector. The wealth being created by Telangana farmers would help clear the debt in two years, he said.
He further said that while Centre collected taxes of ₹2.72 lakh crore from the State in the last five years, Telangana got only Rs.1.12 lakh crore. “Whose wealth is this?” was his poser to Mr. Vikramarka. Telangana managed to be self-reliant despite slowdown and reduction of tax devolution to State.
He announced that by next year 570 tmc ft of Godavari water would flow in the State through Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation project, 75 tmc ft through Devadula and 175 tmc ft through Sitarama Sagar project. “What the Congress party could not do for 50 years, a junior party like TRS could achieve,” he said.
He said his government would make farmer the king and make Telangana a fertile and evergreen State through its tireless efforts.
