Despite Centre's tightfist, Telangana state sailed through: CM KCR

Hyderabad: Telangana State would have by now plunged into serious financial crisis if it had not taken necessary measures to improve revenue generation internally.

The Centre and the leaders of BJP make tall claims that the Centre has been very generous in giving funds to the State but the state had failed to utilise them properly.

So far, the Centre did not give more than Rs 10,000 crore in any year since 2014, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao told the State Assembly on Thursday.

Replying to BJP member Raja Singh's claim that the Centre was giving generous funds to the State for various schemes, the Chief Minister said the normal practice is that Central devolution is deposited in the state account promptly every month and it helps in meeting the monthly salary requirement.

This practice was discontinued, and the State is still waiting for its share of Rs 3,900 crore even as the current financial year is set to end this month.

The Centre has adopted delaying tactics even in release of State share from the taxes and funds earmarked for the Centrally sponsored schemes. This being the situation where is the question of funds not being utilised, he said.

Instead of timely release of funds, the Centre has suggested the to the Government to take a loan of Rs 1,400 crore to meet the financial needs.

"Telangana has been contributing Rs 50,000 crores as tax money to the central exchequer through various taxes. But the state got a mere Rs 24,000 crore per annum in the form of tax devolution," the CM said.

Telangana is one among the first two top states in the country collecting tax money effectively in the country.

"The way things are moving, if the State depends on the Centre for funds, we would slip into serious trouble," he observed.