Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu on Wednesday presented a Rs 3.04 lakh crore Budget for the current financial year, with a revenue expenditure of Rs 2.26 lakh crore and a capital expenditure of Rs 36,504 crore, primarily focused on welfare initiatives. However, the government plans to increase borrowings, as reflected in capital receipts pegged at Rs 74,645.92 crore, including open market borrowings of nearly Rs 64,539 crore. The government claimed its strategic roadmap for the next decade envisions a five-fold expansion of the current $200 billion state economy to $1 trillion.
“Inspired by secular values, the Congress government has designed this Budget for equitable distribution of resources to all classes of society and to establish a system free from inequalities,” said Deputy Chief Minister Batti Vikramarka Mallu, adding that they aspire to elevate the state to a level where every citizen has access to education, healthcare, employment, and social security.
He said that in 2024-2025, Telangana’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at current prices stood at Rs 16,12,579 crore, registering a growth rate of 10.1 percent compared to the previous year. During the same period, India’s GDP was Rs 3,31,03,215 crore, with a growth rate of 9.9 percent. Telangana’s per capita income stood at Rs 3,79,751 during the same period, with a growth rate of 9.6 percent, which was higher than India‘s per capita income of Rs 2,05,579, growing at 8.8 percent. Dismayed by the declining share of tax devolution for southern states, Telangana recommended “assigning 50 percent weightage to GSDP to ensure a more equitable allocation of resources for states driving national economic growth.”
The service sector remained the largest employment provider, accounting for 34.8 percent of the total workforce, followed by agriculture and allied activities, which employed 42.7 percent of the population while the industrial sector employed about 22.5 percent. The state government claimed that while Telangana’s unemployment rate was 22.9 percent during July-September 2023, it decreased to 18.1 percent in 2024.
The agriculture department was allocated Rs 24,439 crore in the Budget, while the education department received Rs 23,108 crore. The Panchayati Raj and Rural Development department was allocated Rs 31,605 crore. The SC, ST, and BC welfare departments received Rs 40,232 crore, Rs 17,169 crore, and Rs 11,405 crore, respectively.
The state government plans to develop an AI City in Future City, spanning 200 acres, with data centres, high-performance computing facilities, and a dedicated AI University to equip the state’s youth and students with advanced skills. To promote widespread industrial growth across the state, the government has conceived a Mega Master Plan 2050, aimed at decentralising industrial development away from Hyderabad. Sector-specific industrial clusters will be developed across the state in industries such as IT, pharmaceutical healthcare, automobile, and so on. The new building of Osmania Hospital will be developed at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore on 27 acres of land.
Meanwhile, the BRS protested with withered paddy crops, accusing the Congress government of causing a drought-like situation. BRS working president KT Rama Rao slammed the Budget, particularly the trillion-dollar economy claim, stating, “The government doesn’t even know how many zeroes it entails, yet seems to be set on the path of trillion-dollar debt.”