Telangana: Promising Budget

Hyderabad: With just two days left for the presentation of the Budget, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao along with Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday gave final touches to the budget proposals.

According to sources, the Budget would be a promising one for the government from the point of view of revenue generation. The government, it is learnt, is contemplating increasing revenue generation from sale of liquor, property registrations, commercial taxes and VAT.

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in her joint address to the Assembly and Council said that the state economy was on a recovery path at a faster pace. The government feels that the 25 per cent increase in revenue generation would help in allocating adequate funds to all flagship schemes and developmental programmes like irrigation, health and education. The government is also likely to announce the PRC by allocating required funds in the budget proposals.

Currently, the total revenue collections per month is around Rs 7,000 crore and the government is expecting the revenues will increase above Rs 8,000 crore, a senior official of the Finance department said .

In the current financial year, the government has projected the budget outlay at Rs 1. 82 lakh crore. Due to revenue loss during the lockdown period, the State had lost Rs 50,000 crore revenue . As a result, the Revised Estimations (RE) of the state budget has gone down to Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

Official sources said special funds for the development of medical infrastructure and other capital investment schemes are planned. Unemployment dole, reducing age limit for old-age pension under Aasra scheme, farmers' loan waiver scheme and community based programmes launched for the economic empowerment of specific communities like sheep growers and horticulturists would get huge funds in the new budget estimations.

Officials also said that the CM is ready to announce a hike in salaries of contract, outsourcing staff working in the government department. The government has increased the salaries of all permanent and contract employees and also filled 50,000 jobs in the government sector.

Required funds would also be earmarked to the Panchyat Raj and Rural Development and Municipal Administration and Urban Development to improve the village and urban infrastructure in the new financial year.