HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Wednesday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to sanction an additional Rs 5,000 crore to Telangana under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme, under which loans are extended interest-free for 50 years.
During a meeting with the Union minister in Delhi on Wednesday, Bhatti thanked the Union government for extending 50-year interest-free loans to states under the scheme. Referring to the Rs 4,208 crore already sanctioned to Telangana during the 2025–26 financial year, he said additional financial support was necessary to sustain the state’s ongoing development and welfare programmes.
The deputy chief minister said Telangana was progressing rapidly in development, but was facing fiscal pressure due to debt servicing commitments arising from borrowings raised through various Special Purpose Vehicles between 2014 and 2023.
Despite these constraints, the state government continued to invest substantially in education, healthcare, rural infrastructure and human resource development, Vikramarka added.
‘Exempt loans for edu projects from FRBM limit’
Vikramarka highlighted the government’s commitment to providing world-class education through the Young India Integrated Residential Schools (YIIRS) initiative. He informed Sitharaman that the state was also focusing on establishing new medical colleges across districts, strengthening rural healthcare services and improving educational infrastructure to ensure inclusive and sustainable development.
The deputy chief minister also submitted another representation regarding the state’s investments in the education sector. He said the government had prepared an investment plan worth Rs 30,000 crore for transforming the education sector, including Rs 21,000 crore for construction of 105 Young India Integrated Residential Schools campuses and another Rs 9,000 crore for strengthening government junior colleges, degree colleges, technical and vocational institutions, and digital infrastructure.
In this context, he thanked the Centre for approvals accorded by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) to two externally aided projects — the Young India Integrated Residential Schools Project with an outlay of Rs 4,049.11 crore under the Asian Development Bank and the Telangana Education Infrastructure Upgradation Mission Project with an outlay of Rs 4,903.44 crore under the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Vikramarka requested that loans related to these two projects be exempted from the state’s Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits. He said these were not routine expenditures, but long-term capital investments aimed at human resource development and educational empowerment, particularly for SC, ST, BC and minority communities.