Telangana govt presents Rs 3.05 lakh cr budget for 2025-26, allots Rs 56k cr for '6 poll guarantees'

Hyderabad: The Congress government in Telangana on Wednesday presented a budget of nearly Rs 3.05 lakh crore for 2025-26, with over Rs 56,000 crore for the implementation of the party’s 'six poll guarantees', while expecting to raise Rs 64,000 crore through open market loans.

The budget estimates revenue expenditure of Rs 2.27 lakh crore and capital expenditure of Rs 36,504 crore, said Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who tabled the financial document in the state Assembly.

"For the fiscal year 2025-26, I am proposing a total expenditure of Rs 3,04,965 crore, with revenue expenditure of Rs 2,26,982 crore and capital expenditure of Rs 36,504 crore," he said, describing it as a "perfect balance between welfare and development".

The 'six poll guarantees' of the Congress government include Rs 2,500 per month, gas cylinder for Rs 500 and free travel in state-run RTC buses under 'Mahalakshmi' scheme meant for women, Rs 15,000 per acre for farmers and tenant farmers under 'Rythu Bharosa'.

As many as 200 units of free electricity for all households under 'Gruha Jyothi', house site and Rs five lakh for people not owning a house under the 'Indiramma Indlu', Rs five lakh for students under 'Yuva Vikasam' and social security pension of Rs 4,000 monthly as per 'Cheyutha' scheme are the rest.

The state government has proposed an allocation of Rs 24,439 crore for the Agriculture Department, including towards the Rythu Bharosa Scheme, under which each farmer receives Rs 12,000 per acre annually as investment support and an additional incentive of Rs 500 per quintal for fine variety paddy procured from farmers.

Rs 31,605 crore has been earmarked for the Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department, while the Education Department has been allotted Rs 23,108 crore. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare will get Rs 40,232 crore and Rs 17,169 crore respectively.

"Inspired by secular values, the Congress government has designed this budget for equitable distribution of resources to all classes of society and to establish a system free from inequalities," Vikramarka said.

He further said the government's strategic roadmap for the next decade envisions a five-fold expansion of the current USD 200 billion state economy into a trillion-dollar economy.

Rs 23,373 crore was proposed for the Irrigation Department, while the Home Department has been allotted Rs 10,188 crore. The Health, Medical & Family Welfare Dept gets Rs 12,393 crore and the Energy Department would receive Rs 21,221 crore.

The state’s outstanding liabilities stood at over Rs 4.51 lakh crore (FRBM loans) during 2024-25 (revised estimates) and it is expected to go over Rs 5 lakh crore next fiscal.

In 2024-25, total outstanding liabilities (FRBM Loans) of the state were budgeted at 27.38 per cent of GSDP. The revised estimates indicate that the outstanding liabilities will be contained at 27.98 per cent of GSDP.

To address the issue of off-budget borrowings, the state is actively negotiating with financial institutions to lower borrowing costs and extend the repayment periods associated with these borrowings, the Budget document said, adding that the guarantees will be extended to only those Public Sector Undertakings which have sufficient cash flows of their own to service the debt.

"Most of the borrowings of the government are being utilised for capital expenditure. This will result in income generating assets and more income to people," it said.

Expecting that the growth momentum will pick up further, own tax revenue in 2025-26 is budgeted at Rs.1,45,420 crore as compared with the revised estimates of Rs 1,38,181 crore in 2024-25.

Telangana's per capita income stood at Rs 3,79,751 with growth rate of 9.6 per cent, while the GSDP at current prices registered 10.1 per cent growth to Rs 16,12,579 cr in 2024-25.

Under the 14th Finance Commission, Telangana received 2.437 per cent of funds, which declined to 2.102 per cent under the 15th FC. The state government represented that allocating fewer funds to well-performing states is unfair and advocated a more rational tax distribution system that incentivises states contributing significantly to the nation's economic growth, the finance minister said.