Telangana Wishlist for Union Budget 2022-23

Hyderabad: Telangana's wish list for the Union Budget 2022–23 includes including Hyderabad in the proposed defence industrial production corridor, funding for Hyderabad Pharma City, the establishment of the first National Design Centre (NDC), and budgetary support for the development of the Hyderabad-Warangal, Hyderabad-Nagpur, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, and Hyderabad-Vijayawada industrial corridors.

The state is also demanding funds for the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park (KMTP), the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), the Warangal Metro-Neo project, the sanction of the Mega Powerloom Cluster in Sircilla, and the approval of pending and new railway projects.

The Telangana administration has presented a sector-by-sector list of demands ahead of the Union Budget presentation on February 1. The Telangana government has been upset with the central government for dealing "injustice" to the state in previous budgets. Many of the state's previous requests have been reaffirmed.

In the last few days, K.T. Rama Rao, the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Information Technology, Municipal Administration, and Urban Development, has sent a series of letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, requesting substantial central help for several projects.

KTR, as the state minister is known, requested over Rs 14,000 crore in budgetary support for key industrial projects such as the Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Vijayawada, Hyderabad-Warangal, and Hyderabad-Nagpur industrial corridors, as well as the Hyderabad Pharma City project, which has been granted NIMZ status.

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He also requested approval for additional nodes at Mancherial on the Hyderabad-Nagpur corridor, Huzurabad on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada corridor, and Jadcherla-Gadwal-Kothaguda on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru route, as well as Rs 5,000 crore in funding.

The state has requested a financial provision of Rs 2,000 crore each for the approved nodes at Hyderabad Pharma City and NIMZ Zaheerabad under the Hyderabad-Warangal and Hyderabad-Nagpur corridors, which the Centre has agreed to pay.

KTR has asked for the provision of about Rs 5,000 crore in grant-in-aid for the master planning and development of internal, external, and technological infrastructure for the establishment of Hyderabad Pharma City as an NIMZ in the Rangareddy district. He also lobbied Sitharaman for Hyderabad to be included in the projected defence industrial production corridor.

He also penned a letter to Union Ministers Sitaraman and Piyush Goel, requesting funding for several projects in the state's handloom and textile industries. The minister has already written multiple letters to the centre on the same issues.

He requested Rs 897 crore in funding to begin infrastructure construction at Warangal's Kakatiya Mega Textile Park. He also recommended that the project be approved as soon as possible.

He also requested the Centre to approve the Mega Powerloom Cluster in Sircilla, with a budget of Rs 49.84 crore out of a total budget of Rs 993.65 crore.

KTR had already written to Sitharaman, pushing her to contribute Rs 8,000 crore to different projects undertaken by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department in the state, including the MRT system (MRTS).

Telangana's treatment in the implementation of existing projects and the awarding of new railway projects has also been expressed to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, expressing his displeasure with Telangana's treatment in the implementation of existing projects.

"In the past seven years, the Union government has never prioritised the needs of the state in any of its railway budgets so far," he wrote. He also mentioned that joint venture railway projects with the state government, which were started with zeal, have not progressed much, and that there are other projects where comprehensive studies were completed but no work has begun.

According to the former MP, the Kothapalli-Manoharabad railway line is the sole project that has taken off and is being constructed with considerable backing from Telangana since the foundation of the new state.

According to him, the Railway Board has shelved as many as 11 high-potential projects as well as 25 high-priority projects for which survey results have been given to the Railway Board for years but no decision has been made.

"How many more years will this step-motherly treatment continue? Why must the states beg for their rightful share of resources every single time? " he asked.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government is angry with the Centre for ignoring its long-standing demand for national project status for a major irrigation project in the state, as well as for failing to provide financial assistance for the state's flagship schemes to revive irrigation tanks and ensure that every household has access to drinking water.

The state government is also dissatisfied with the Centre's failure to keep promises made to Telangana in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014, including the cancellation of projects such as the Information Technology and Investment Region (ITIR) in Hyderabad and the railway coach factory in Kazipet.

Telangana, which is the fourth greatest contributor to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is also requesting that the Centre support it as a progressive state.

Last week, during the PM Gati Shakti South Zone virtual conference, which was headed by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, KTR raised this issue.

Despite being a performing state, Telangana, according to the state minister, does not receive adequate support from the federal government, even though performing states need to be rewarded.

He praised Telangana's achievements in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, handlooms and textiles, power, coal, and other industries. Hyderabad is also home to 35% of worldwide vaccine production, according to the ministry.

"Telangana, the youngest state in the country, is blessed with natural advantages in geographical resources, a world-class skill-base, existing manufacturing practises and expertise that have opened new opportunities for investments," said KTR.

He claimed that whereas Hyderabad has a long history of having a strong defence-related ecosystem, the Union government has awarded the defence corridor to Bundelkhand, which has neither an ecosystem nor businesses.