Telangana budget exercise put off till February 1

Hyderabad: Uncertainty over allocations in the Union Budget for the 2021-2022 financial year, due to a steep fall in the country's GDP across sectors, has cast a shadow on the preparation of Telangana State Budget for the coming financial year.

As a result, the State government has postponed the exercise for the preparation of the budget till February 1, the day the Union government presents the outlay proposals in Parliament. Normally, the government begins the budget exercise in January first week every year.

Top officials said that post Corona lockdown, Telangana was reeling under several financial crunch. Of late, the economy is recovering slowly. The government is unsure how much allocations the Centre would earmark for many sectors – mainly Urban Development, Panchayat Raj, Health, Agriculture and Education – in the coming financial year.

"The State does not have any clue on the Central allocations to the important sectors. Also, there is no indication of getting adequate Central grants this year. The State has received information that the Centre's priorities are likely to be changed, as the GDP registered an all-time low in the recent years," a senior official said. The share of Central taxes and duties was estimated at Rs 16,726 crore in 2020-2021 financial year and the grant-in-aid is Rs 10,525 crore. The realisation of the Central assurances is still pending, even as the last quarter of the current financial year started.

Officials said that this time Telangana requires more grants and share of Central taxes to overcome the financial crisis. "The State has targeted Rs 1.43 lakh crore revenue in the current financial year from all sources, including State taxes (VAT), excise, stamps and registration fee and Motor Vehicle (MV) Tax. In all, the State could secure not more than Rs 70,000 crore revenue till December last year. The State is not able even to achieve 60 per cent of the total revenue target due to corona pandemic and also poor assistance from the Centre," explained the officials.

The State would get a clear picture on the Central assistance only after the presentation of the Union budget. The State finance department would conduct a thorough analysis of the Central budget and then initiate the exercise to prepare its budget. It is likely to be presented in the Assembly in March second week. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has already announced trimming of the 2020-2021 budget outlay by at least 20 per cent due to economic slowdown under the impact of the lockdown. The total outlay in the current financial year is Rs 1.82 lakh crore, officials said.