Telangana presents Rs 1,15,689 crore budget; no fresh taxes

In its maiden full-fledged budget for the new state, Telangana government on Wednesday proposed a total expenditure of Rs 1,15,689 crore, including non-plan expenditure of Rs 63,306 crore for 2015-16. The estimated revenue surplus in the Budget presented by state Finance Minister Etela Rajender is Rs 531 crore. The plan expenditure was proposed at Rs 52,383 crore, while no fresh taxes have been imposed. 

The fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 16,969 crore. Sectors of education, irrigation, medical and health services, 'Mission Kakatiya' (revival of tanks), energy, water grid, agriculture, welfare of SCs, STs, minorities, road upgradation, administration of Hyderabad, including metro rail; have received major allocations in budget estimates for 2015-16. 

The proposed allocation for education sector is Rs 11,216 crore, Rs 8,500 crore for irrigation (including major, medium, minor irrigation projects), Rs 2,083 crore for 'Mission Kakatiya' and Rs 4,000 crore for water grid. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR), Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) have received Rs 526 crore, Rs 416 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, respectively. An amount of Rs 4,932 crore has been proposed for medical and health services.
Budgetary allocation of Rs 4,980 crore was made for road up-gradation and maintenance under Roads and Buildings department. An amount of Rs 2,421 crore has been proposed for Panchayat Raj roads. While observing that power shortage is one of the major issues in Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government expressed confidence that it would become power surplus by 2018. The present generating capacity of the state is 4,320 MW, which is proposed to be enhanced to 23,675 MW by 2018-end.
The amount proposed for the energy sector in 2015-16 is Rs 7,400 crore under plan and non-plan. Stating that Rs 4,250 crore has been released for farmers' debt relief so far, the Finance minister announced an additional relief package of Rs 4,250 crore for farmers. The total provision for agriculture and allied sectors in the budget for 2015-16 is Rs 8,432 crore.