HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday exposed the mismanagement of state finances by the previous BRS government during a debate on Telangana's financial situation in the Legislative Assembly.
Bhatti released statistics in the House to prove how the BRS regime understated bank guarantees to inflate its borrowing limits, thereby misleading the public and regulatory institutions such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
In a detailed analysis, Bhatti Vikramarka revealed that the BRS government failed to disclose nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in bank guarantees, even amending the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act to secure additional loans.
He argued that the actual debt burden incurred during the BRS regime was much higher than the figures reported, with debts exceeding Rs 7 lakh crore over the past decade, compared to the Rs 4 lakh crore claimed by the previous administration.
Bhatti Vikramarka alleged that the BRS government deliberately concealed debts incurred through corporations by misrepresenting them in Budget documents.
Citing data from the RBI Handbook of Statistics in Indian States for 2023-24, he explained how the handbook relied on state budget documents presented by the respective governments, which the RBI did not independently audit.
He criticised former finance minister T. Harish Rao for presenting misleading figures in Budget documents, stating that the guarantees listed by Harish Rao were far lower than the actual liabilities.
For example, Bhatti Vikramarka pointed out that `1,35,282 crore in bank guarantees were shown when then chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao presented the Budget in the Assembly, while the figure presented by T. Harish Rao was reduced to `38,807 crore.
He questioned the methods used to mask liabilities, accusing the BRS of introducing a column titled "Tentative Risk-Weighted Outstanding Guarantee Amount" to understate risks associated with loans.
To illustrate his claims, Bhatti Vikramarka cited specific examples of financial mismanagement which includes Sheep Development Corporation. The corporation borrowed Rs 1,314.46 crore, but the government claimed its guarantee was only five per cent amounting to Rs 65 crore. However, the state ultimately paid Rs 693 crore, placing the burden on the government.
He cited Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project Corporation's discrepancies in the debt figures, with Rs 64,000 crore shown as Rs 38,000 crore in Budget documents. He revealed that the state government had been repaying these debts for the last four years, despite the previous administration claiming the project was self-sustaining.
Bhatti Vikramarka accused the BRS leadership, including Harish Rao, of spreading misinformation about the state’s finances. He asserted that the Congress government inherited a debt of Rs 6.71 lakh crore, with additional pending bills of Rs 40,150 crore left unpaid by the previous administration. This brought the state’s total liabilities to Rs 7.19 lakh crore, he said.
The Deputy Chief Minister emphasised his government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility. Since coming to power, the Congress administration has borrowed Rs 52,000 crore and systematically repaid Rs 62,000 crore in debts, including dues related to projects like Kaleshwaram. Unlike the BRS regime, Bhatti claimed, the Congress government has refrained from selling state assets and has focused on welfare initiatives such as increasing diet bills in schools and planning the establishment of Young India Schools.
Bhatti Vikramarka criticised the BRS government for leasing out critical infrastructure like the Outer Ring Road (ORR), accusing it of jeopardising state resources for short-term gains. He also lambasted the lack of transparency in corporate debts, which he said were omitted from CAG reports during the BRS tenure.
