Telangana Rising with Rs 3 lakh cr Budget

Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday presented the state's Budget for 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 3,04,965 crore. This is the first time that the state Budget has crossed the Rs 3-lakh-crore mark. The revenue expenditure accounts for Rs 2,26,982 crore and capital expenditure Rs 36,504 crore.

"Our government is dedicated to fulfilling Telangana's long-term needs and aspirations, striving relentlessly for sustainable progress, inclusive growth and a prosperous future for all," Bhatti said, adding that the government was firmly committed to achieving the long-term development goals of Telangana.

"Under the leadership of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy with the Telangana Rising-2050 vision, we are shaping our policies and programmes to drive sustainable progress. Our strategic roadmap for the next decade envisions a five-fold expansion of the current $200-billion state economy into a trillion-dollar economy," Bhatti said.

The government's 'Six Guarantees' got a massive allocation of Rs 56,084 crore. Major welfare schemes and development projects got even higher allocations of Rs 1.04 lakh crore. Agriculture, education and health got priority in the Budget.

A major highlight in the Budget was the Mega Master Plan 2050 for industrial development, which includes the establishment of greenfield industrial clusters in Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar districts.

To ease urban congestion in Hyderabad, the government has announced the construction of 31 flyovers and 17 underpasses at a cost of Rs 7,032 crore under the H-CITI initiative. The Budget also aims to expedite the Chief Minister’s pet projects of Future City, Musi Rejuvenation and Hyderabad Regional Ring Road projects.

For the next fiscal, the Budget proposed to raise Rs 64,539 crore through open market borrowings in 2025-26, which is over Rs 7,500 crore higher than Rs 56,940 crore debt raised in 2024-25.

The budget projected a revenue surplus of Rs 2,783 crore in 2025-26, which is lower than Rs 5,888.71 crore projected in revised estimates for 2024-25. The budget projected a fiscal deficit of Rs 54,009 crore in 2025-26 ,which is higher than Rs 46,764 crore projected in revised estimates for 2024-25.

The state government has pinned its hopes on higher tax revenue and non-tax revenue collections in 2025-26. In the next fiscal, it expects to earn Rs 1,45,419 crore through tax revenues in 2025-26, which is higher than Rs 1,29,406 crore projected in revised estimates for 2024-25 and non-tax revenues of Rs 31,618 crore in 2025-26 against revised estimates of Rs 25,814 crore for 2024-25.

Though Bhatti Vikramarka had presented a Rs 2,91,059-crore budget during the previous fiscal, the government has downsized it by Rs 25,125 crore in the revised estimates to Rs 2,65,934 crore due to lower than expected revenue earnings.

Indirectly attacking the opposition BRS for indulging in false propaganda against Congress government through social media and their own publications, Bhatti Vikramarka said, "Some individuals have made it their mission to question every action of the government and indulge in baseless criticism.”

“They manipulate public perception by spreading false narratives through social media and their own publications. It is our responsibility to counter such misleading propaganda and consistently present the truth to the people. If the truth is not communicated clearly and frequently, there is a real danger that the lies spread by self-serving individuals will be mistaken for reality."

He also stated that the state government has prioritised the long-term welfare and inclusive development of the state and delivered welfare benefits to every citizen. "We have successfully overcome the challenges inherited from previous governments, proving our government's strength and efficiency. However, due to Lok Sabha elections and the implementation of election code, there was a temporary pause in some developmental initiatives," he said.