HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has convened an emergency Cabinet meeting on Thursday at Pragathi Bhavan to take stock of the financial situation of the government in the wake of the Centre imposing restrictions on market borrowings and on mobilising loans through corporations by giving bank guarantees.
Other issues on the agenda was lowering the Aasara pensions age cap to 57 years against 65 years now, sanctioning of new ration cards and Dalit Bandhu implementation etc. The government claims that the Centre has imposed Rs 19,000 crore cuts on market borrowings this year.
In the Budget 2022-23, the government proposed to raise Rs 15,500 crore through sale of land parcels and sale of Rajiv Swagruha flats. The government auctioned Rajiv Swagruha flats in Hyderabad, Khammam, Karimnagar and Mahbubnagar in June and July but is yet to receive full payment from the buyers as there is a provision to pay in instalments.
The government earned Rs 137 crore through auction of lands under HMDA limits in June this year.
The government needs to mobilise funds for Dalit Bandhu as the Chief Minister has announced to extend the scheme to 100 families each in 118 Assembly constituencies last year. The beneficiaries of the previous fiscal are yet to be covered fully.
For this fiscal Dalit Bandhu requires Rs 20,000 crore to cover two lakh families, for which a Rs 17,700 crore budgetary allocation was made but no funds were released from April to July. Except selling government land parcels in HMDA limits and in other districts, the government has no other option.
Commercial taxes, excise, stamps and registrations and transport departments remain the major revenue earning sources, but the state government has already raised liquor prices, stamps and registration charges twice last year and transport taxes last year and any further increases are politically imprudent in the shadow off the Assembly elections.
The government also raised TSRTC fares and power tariffs last year. VAT on petrol, diesel and liquor is among the highest in the country and the government has no scope to raise it further which would provide ammunition to Opposition parties.
The Munugode Assemby bypoll is round the corner and the government cannot take any decision hiking existing taxes and charges at least until next five or six months, when bypoll will be over, according to political analysts.
