Rs 2.56 Lakh Crore Budget For Telangana, Dalit Bandhu Gets 17,700 Crore

The Telangana government today presented a budget of Rs 2,56,958.51 crore for the financial year 2022-23, Rs 36,000 crore more than that of the last year.

Finance Minister T Harish Rao presented the budget.

This budget session had no speech by Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan on the first day, the government having eliminated it citing some technicalities, and the budget was presented on the first day itself.

Revenue receipts were put at Rs 1,93,029 crore this year against Rs 1,76,127 crore last year.

Rs 1,08,212 crore is the total tax revenue estimated in the budget, with sales tax proposed at Rs 33,000 crore, excise at Rs 17,500 crore and registration and stamps revenue at Rs 15,600 crore (the rest is the state's share of central taxes).

The state's non-tax revenue is projected to be Rs 25,422 crore this year, compared to Rs 30,557 crore last year.

Thus the state's revenue is projected to be Rs 1,33,634 crore, as against Rs 1,23,467 last year.

Borrowings have been projected as Rs 59,632 crore this year as opposed to Rs 49,359 crore last year.

Dalit Bandhu was allocated Rs 17,700 crore, Rythu Bandhu Rs 14,800 crore and pensions Rs 11,728 crore.

Rao also said that the government had decided to start eight medical colleges, give pension to people from 57 years of age itself from March, and give Rs 3 lakh per house through the MLAs under a new scheme.

Harish Rao claimed that the Centre was depriving the state of funds for development, and that the state was yet on a growth path. That diatribe, of course, took up a good part of the speech.