Deputy CM Bhatti Presents Budget Focused on Development and Welfare
Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister and finance portfolio Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka devoted a major share of his first full Budget to the development of Hyderabad development, health, education, agriculture. irrigation and housing.
The Rs.2,91,159-crore Budget has a revenue surplus of Rs.297 crore. The revenue expenditure was pegged at Rs.2,20,945 crore while Rs.33,487 crore will be spent to build infrastructure assets. Fiscal deficit was estimated at Rs.49,255 crore. The budget proposed to raise Rs.57,112 crore through open market loans.
Bhatti also allocated higher sums for infrastructure development and welfare of the Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minority communities as well as for women.
The first full Budget of the Congress government was about Rs.15,000 crore bigger than the 'vote on account' of Rs.2.76 lakh crore presented in February, and slightly higher than the Rs.2.9 lakh crore Budget of the previous BRS government for 2023-24.
In his Budget speech, Bhatti said that Telangana's debt burden had surged to Rs.6.71 lakh crore by the end of 2023-24, up from Rs.75,577 crore in 2014-15 due to the financial mismanagement of previous BRS in the last ten years.
He said that the Congress government was taking measures to maintain fiscal prudence and restore economic stability by repaying the majority of the loans.
The Budget allocations reflected the Congress government's priority for agriculture and allied sectors, with a substantial allocation of Rs.72,659 crore. This was followed by Rs.29,816 crore for panchayat raj and rural development, and Rs.22,301 crore for irrigation.
Additionally, Rs.21,292 crore were earmarked for education, Rs.11,468 crore for medical and health and Rs.9,184 crore for housing.
The Budget did not include overall allocations for the highly anticipated Abhaya Hastham (Six Guarantees) promised by the Congress during Assembly polls, except for Rs.2,418 crore for the Gruha Jyothi Scheme and Rs.723 crore for the subsidised LPG cylinder scheme.
Speaking informally with media persons after presenting the Budget, Bhatti claimed that the allocations for Six Guarantees will be nearly `60,000 crore, which will be higher than Rs.53,196 crore allocated in vote-on-account budget in February.
The state government allocated Rs.1,525 crore for the Regional Ring Road, against a total expenditure of Rs,13,522 crore for the northern part and `12,980 crore for the southern part. Furthermore, Rs.10,000 crore was allocated for the development of Hyderabad, including GHMC, HYDRAA, HMDA, HMWSSB, and other related entities.
The Budget also proposed Rs.33,124 crore for welfare of the Scheduled Castes under the SC Sub-plan Development Fund and Rs.17,056 crore for the Scheduled Tribes under Sub-plan Development Fund.
A total of Rs.16,410 crore has been allocated for power transmission and distribution companies. Higher allocations were made for industries and information technology, with Rs.2,762 crore and Rs.774 crore, respectively, when compared with previous year.
The Rs.2,90,296-crore Budget of the previous BRS government was revised to Rs.2,31,017.19 crore. Expenditure shortfall of nearly Rs 60,000 crore was recorded as the government failed to meet budgetary targets. Despite this, the Congress government went ahead with the presentation of Rs.2,91,059 crore budget for this year.
Department wise allocations: 2023-24 2024-25
Revised Budget
Agriculture, cooperation Rs.28,593 cr Rs.49,383 cr
Finance Rs.54,131 cr Rs.47,713 cr
Panchayat raj, rural development Rs. 23,997 cr Rs.29,816 cr
Irrigation Rs.29,784 cr Rs.22,301 cr
Secondary education, Secretariat Rs.17,025cr Rs.17,942 cr
Higher education Rs.2,447 cr Rs.3,350 cr
Energy Rs.16,158 cr Rs.16,410cr
Health, medical, family welfare Rs.9,135 cr Rs.11,468 cr
MA&UD Rs.7,441 cr Rs.15,594 cr
Housing Department Rs.1,723 cr Rs.9,184 cr
Home Department Rs.9,845 cr Rs.9,564 cr
Backward Classes welfare Rs.4,000 cr Rs.9,200 cr
Scheduled Castes development Rs.2,265 cr Rs.7,638 cr
Minorities welfare Rs.1,793 cr Rs.3,003 cr
Tribal welfare: Rs.2,361 cr Rs.3,969 cr
Roads & buildings Rs.3,406 cr Rs.5,790 cr
Transport Rs.1,923 cr Rs.4,206 cr
Food & civil supplies Rs.1,362 cr Rs.3,836 cr
Planning Rs.2,905 cr Rs.3,783 cr
Industries & commerce Rs.567 cr Rs.2,762 cr
Women, children, disabled, seniors Rs.1,775 cr Rs.2,736 cr
Law Rs.1,125 cr Rs 2,306 cr
Revenue Rs.3,091 cr Rs.2,106 cr
Animal husbandry & fisheries Rs.1,657 cr Rs.1,980 cr
Environment, forests, S&T Rs.663 cr Rs.1,064 cr
Youth, tourism and culture Rs.338 cr Rs.1,046 cr
General administration Rs.1,663 cr Rs.1,134 cr
IT & Communications Rs.194 cr Rs. 774 cr
Labour and Employment Rs.520 cr Rs.882 cr
Legislature Rs.130 cr Rs.220 cr
Total Rs.2,32,017 cr Rs.2,91,159 cr
