Telangana Finance Minister Eatala Rajender on Thursday presented the last full budget of his government for 2018-19 with a total outlay of ₹1,74,453.84 crore, giving a lion’s share of the allocations to agriculture, irrigation and power sectors.
In the Budget presentation that lasted little over an hour in the Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad, Mr. Rajender laid emphasis on reviving the rural economy. “Urbanisation alone should not be perceived as development. The development would be inclusive and comprehensive only when the rural economy expands,” he said.
Of the ₹1.74 lakh crore estimated total expenditure, the revenue expenditure is ₹1,25,454.70 crore and capital expenditure ₹33,369.10 crore. The capital expenditure is 19 percentage of the total expenditure. “This is substantially higher when compared to other States,” Mr. Rajender said.
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Increased revenue receipts
The State’s own revenue receipts for 2018-19 are proposed at ₹73,751.88 crore, up by 20% over that of the revised Budget estimates of 2017-18. Transfers from the Centre are estimated at ₹ 29,041.88 crore, a marginal increase over that of 2017-18.
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While the agriculture and marketing sector got an allocation of ₹15,788 crore, irrigation was given ₹25,000 crore and the power sector ₹5,650 crore — all the three sectors have been linked to give a boost to the agriculture sector and enhance the incomes of farmers that accounts for ₹46,438 crore.
Reiterating that the government was committed to reviving the agriculture sector that was pushed into a crisis because of the policies adopted in the combined State, Mr. Rajender said the government would provide investment assistance to farmers caught in the debt trap due to huge interest burden they were subject to because of their borrowings for investment needs.
From 2018-19, the government would provide an investment support of ₹4,000 an acre for two crops and the investment support for Kharif season would be distributed from April onwards and for Rabi from November. The government has allocated ₹12,000 crore in the Budget for investment support scheme.
Farmers coordination panels
The Minister announced the constitution of Farmers Coordination Committees to unite the farmers and ensure minimum support price (MSP), and allocated ₹500 crore for the Rythu Bheema scheme, ₹522 crore to promote farm mechanisation, besides making allocations for construction of additional godowns, marketing facilities and cold storage linkages.
The government has given top priority for welfare of all vulnerable sections: ₹16,453 crore for the Scheduled Caste Special Development Fund (SDF), ₹9,693 crore for the Scheduled Tribe SDF, ₹5,920 crore for the Backward Classes welfare, ₹2,000 crore for minority welfare, ₹1,799 crore for Women and Child Welfare and ₹2,643 crore for the government’s flagship programme of Double Bed Room houses.
The government continued its emphasis on education and health sectors, by allocating ₹10,830 crore for school education, ₹2,448 crore for higher education, ₹2,823 crore towards residential schools. For the medical and health sector, ₹7,375 crore has been allocated.
Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari presented the Budget for 2018-19 in the Legislative Council.