HYDERABAD: In its first full-fledged budget, the Telangana government on Wednesday proposed a total expenditure of `1,15689 crore, including non-plan expenditure of `63,306 for the 2015-16 fiscal. While refraining from imposing fresh taxes, Finance Minister E Rajender said the focus would be on augmenting tax revenues to meet the hiked non-plan expenditure particularly in view of the reduced Central grants.
Rajender, while presenting the `1.15-cr budget, sounded optimistic, stating that the situation was now stable and conducive — after the formation of Telangana — to attract investments in the next few years. “Presenting the budget for the new State is a daunting task. When I presented the budget for 10 months, it was baptism by fire. Today, I am presenting the budget for the full year with much greater understanding and clarity,” Rajender said.
Explaining that Central grants would be reduced by almost half to `12,400.24 crore in 2015-16 from `21,720.71 crore in 2014-15, he pointed out that at the same time, non-plan expenditure of the State had increased substantially due in large measure to the 43% hike in salaries of government employees. “Of the `63,306 crore projected non-plan expenditure for 2015-16, around `30,000 crore would go to pay salaries and pensions alone,” he said, adding that it was the reason the government was trying to increase its own tax revenue.
Stating that those, who predicted that a separate Telangana State would be a pit of fire and feared an exodus, had been proved wrong, Rajender termed the State the safest place for investments. He defended the steep projections in State’s own tax revenue (STOR) and non-tax revenue (SNTR) citing ‘huge expected investments.’
The government is expecting `8,500 crore in sales tax, `1,093 crore more in excise revenue and `1,117 more crore from stamps and registration for 2015-16. In non-tax revenue, the State is expecting `1,423 crore more through mines and minerals. Interestingly, it hopes to mobilise `13,500 crore through sale and regularisation of lands this year. On borrowings, Rajender recalled that the State had requested the Centre to relax FRBM limit.
{Budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations. Budget is a means for realising the aspirations of the people
— E Rajender, Finance Minister