Centre availed more loans than State: KCR

Hyderabad: Countering the allegations of the BJP leaders that the government was taking more loans and making Telangana a debt-ridden State, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday said the Government of India had taken more loans than the State. 

The Chief Minister said the Central government had taken a loan of Rs 82 lakh crore, which is 49.5 per cent of the GDP. The Chief Minister intervened while the Finance Minister Eatala Rajender was replying to the general discussion on budget. The Chief Minister questioned the BJP leaders whether their governments in other States were not taking any loans? Market borrowing is part of the budget and this is no difference even at the Centre. He said the loans were necessary for the development works. 

Rao further said that during the year 2016 the loan taken was Rs 5,35,618 crore, during 2017-18 loan taken was Rs 5,94,849 crore and this year the debt service is Rs 8,76,000 crore. He said the Telangana State was at 21 per cent of GSDP and Rs 9,000 crore was taken because of the Uday scheme of the Central government. 

The developed countries take loans more than 100 per cent of their GDPs, he said giving example of Japan, which takes 250 per cent more than its GDP and America which has GDP 14 trillion dollars taking more than 100 per cent loans.

The Chief Minister asked the BJP leaders whether there was not even single good work going on in the State by the State government during the last four years. The Chief Minister said, he got to know that the Madhya Pradesh government was contemplating to bring ‘Srujan Se Visarjan tak’ (from birth to death) inspired by the schemes of the TRS government. He said that the growth of the State was number one in India, which is 22 per cent and another 15 per cent more is expected next year.

When the BJP leaders pointed out the bad roads, the CM said that the government was ready to take constructive criticism. He asked whether the government did not provide loan waiver scheme to the farmers. 

Can the BJP leaders claim that their governments in other States have schemes like that of TRSs, he questioned? The CM said the government would soon form PRC and added that Telangana was well paid employee government. There may be some cases where loan waiver is not provided, he added. 

The government is ready to release Rs 100 crore or Rs 150 crore and clear them within three four days, he assured. The Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao asked the opposition leaders not to curse the State. “Let us not curse our State in the pretext of political criticism. There will be no mileage,” he said.