The Telangana State Government has presented a massive ₹2.90 lakh crore budget for the next financial year 2023-24.
Of the total budget, revenue expenditure is projected at ₹2.11 lakh crore and capital expenditure at ₹37,525 crore. The budget for the next fiscal projected the State to be revenue surplus to the tune of ₹4,881 crore and the fiscal deficit would be ₹38,234 crore while the primary deficit had been pegged at ₹15,827 crore.
The budget has projected revenue receipts to the tune of ₹2.16 lakh crore in the next fiscal, close to ₹40,000 crore higher than the current year’s revised estimates which pegged the revenue receipts at ₹1.75 lakh crore. The revenue receipts for the current fiscal are down by around ₹18,000 crore from ₹1.93 lakh crore projected in the budget estimates to ₹1.75 lakh crore in the revised estimates.
Interestingly, Finance Minister T. Harish Rao presented a tax-free budget raising the revenue receipts by ₹40,000 crore to ₹2.16 lakh crore. Tax revenue for the next fiscal is projected at ₹1.31 lakh crore against the ₹1.1 lakh crore and the non-tax revenue is expected to be ₹22,808 crore, around ₹6,500 crore higher than the current year’s ₹15,291 crore.
The State’s share of central taxes for the next fiscal grew marginally from ₹19,668 crore of the current fiscal to ₹21,470 crore. Grants in aid and contributions have again been pegged at ₹41,259 crore for FY2023-24 in spite of the fact that there was a deficit of over ₹10,000 crore from ₹41,001 crore projected in budget estimates to ₹30,250 crore in the revised estimates during the current fiscal.
Interest payment burden has been on the rise as is shown by the provision of ₹22,407 crore made for the next fiscal, around ₹3,500 crore higher than the ₹Rs. 18,911 crore of the current fiscal. Thanks to the restrictions imposed by the Union Finance Ministry, the State Government has pruned the quantum of open market borrowings for the year 2023-24 to ₹40,615 crore as against the ₹Rs. 53,970 crore projected in budget estimates which was subsequently decreased to ₹44,970 crore in the revised estimates. Loans from the Central Government for the next fiscal had been pegged at ₹4,102 crore and other loans are estimated at ₹ 1,500 crore.
A major component of the budget is the new head inter-state settlement under which the Government is anticipating reimbursement of ₹17,828 crore towards power dues pending from Andhra Pradesh by the Central Government. The State Government has also made provision of ₹6,375 crore towards waiver of farm loans upto ₹90,000 in the next fiscal.
On the capital disbursements front, the Government made provision of ₹9,341 crore towards debt repayment, ₹2,837 crore for other loans and ₹427 crore for loans from the Central Government.
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