Budget throws cold water on Telangana projects
Only Rs 10 crore for the tribal university was allotted.
Hyderabad: None of the three major representations made by the Telangana state government for funds for Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya and the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, figured in the Union Budget announced on Thursday. The state government had sought Rs 34,000 crore from the Central government for implementing these projects. Another disappointment was that the Rs 6,000 crore sought for setting up an integrated steel plant, the All India Institute of Medical Science, and a horticulture university did not find any mention in the finance minister’s Budget speech. Only Rs 10 crore for the tribal university was allotted.
The state government had also submitted proposals in detail for Rs 40,000 crore to execute all these projects. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao held meetings with his ministers and officials after the finance minister’s speech to take stock of the situation. Official sources said he expressed his severe disappointment at the Centre not entertaining these requests made by the TS government. The Chief Minister is also planning to visit New Delhi in the last week of February to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitely to seek “justice” for TS in the Budget.