HYDERABAD: Lambasting his political opponents, especially Union Minister and BJP leader G Kishan Reddy, Finance Minister T Harish Rao, on Monday, said that Telangana’s economy was performing better than the country’s. Harish said that in terms of growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and per capita income, the State’s performance was far better than that of the country. He added that Telangana was the third highest per capita State in India and that it achieved the highest annual average growth in GSDP among all the southern States.
The Minister gave a detailed powerpoint presentation, comparing the State’s economy with that of the country. He addressed the media alongside Principal Finance Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao, State government advisor (Finance) GR Reddy, Directorate of Economic and Statistics G Dayanandam and MP BB Patil at the MCRHRD.
Brushing off the allegations levelled by Kishan, who claimed that Telangana was unable to even pay salaries to its employees and could not implement the Dalit Bandhu scheme, Harish said that the State’s growth rate in the GSDP and per capita income had surpassed the country’s.
India-B’desh comparison
The Finance Minister alleged that the Modi government achieved growth only due to the increase in petrol and diesel prices. He said that Bangladesh’s per capita income was USD 10 higher than India’s. “The Modi government recorded negative growth as it reduced the subsidy amount on domestic gas refill from `250 to `40 in the last six years,” Harish alleged.
During his hour-long press conference, Harish elaborated on the economic growth of Telangana since the State’s formation. He said that Telangana achieved 11.52 per cent average growth in State Own Tax Revenue (SOTR). He said that the State was within the limits of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) and that its total debts were 22.83 per cent of the GSDP against the stipulated 25 per cent.
Power bill
Harish said that the TRS was opposed to the Centre’s Farm Laws as well as the Power Bill. “The Centre says that the power subsidy would be deposited into the accounts of farmers. The same way the gas subsidy was reduced to `40, the power subsidy will also be reduced in the future,” Harish said.
When asked how the State would manage funds for other works if it allocated `30,000 crore for Dalit Bandhu from next year, Harish said that there were non-performing assets and they would be sold for mobilising the resources.
THUS SPAKE HARISH RAO
TS’ GSDP at current prices increased by 93.8% between 2014-15 and 2020-21, as against India’s increase of 58.4% in the same period
TS achieved the third highest percentage increase in GSDP value at current prices between 2014-15 and 2020-21
State’s GSDP rose from Rs 5,05,849 crore to Rs 9,80,407 crore in 2020-21
The growth rate of GSDP in Telangana was 2.4 per cent in 2020-21, whereas the country’s GDP growth pushed to minus three per cent
Telangana achieved the highest annual average growth in GSDP amongst all southern states, at 11.7 per cent post 2014-15
In 2020-21, the per capita income of Telangana is Rs 2,37,632. This is one of the strongest economic indicators of well-being of the population
The per capita income (PCI) of the State is 1.84 times higher than that of the national PCI of Rs 1,28,828
Telangana surpassed seven states in a span of seven years, by moving from the 10th position to the third, in terms of per capita income in the country.
The State experienced 90 per cent increase in SOTR collection from 2014-15 to 2020-21, achieving an amount of Rs 66,648 crore in 2020-21
The average annual growth rate (AAGR) of the SOTR between 2014-15 and 2020-21 is 11.52%
There was a 142% increase in contribution of the agriculture sector to Telangana’s Gross State Value Added (GSVA) between 2014-15 and 2020-21
Mining and quarrying added more than Rs 30,000 crore to the GSVA in the last three years
‘Centre’s growth via hike in fuel prices’
Finance Minister Harish Rao alleged that the Narendra Modi government achieved growth only due to the increase in petrol and diesel prices in the country
‘Why the delay in salaries?’
BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao asked why the State was delaying salaries of its employees if it was achieving economic growth
CHOSEN BIZ UNITS TO BE SANCTIONED SOON: K’NAGAR COLLECTOR
Karimnagar: A few business units chosen by the beneficiaries of the Dalit Bandhu scheme, who have already received their cheques, would be sanctioned immediately, said District Collector RV Karnan. He held a review meeting at the Collectorate on Monday with district officials, bankers, insurance officers, RDOs and MPDs on the grounding of the units selected by the beneficiaries. It may be recalled that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had distributed cheques to 15 beneficiaries during the inauguration of the Dalit Bandhu scheme in Huzurabad on August 16 this year.