HYDERABAD: Tabling the state Budget 2024-25 in the Telangana Assembly on Thursday, Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka proposed Rs 2,762 crore for the Industries & Commerce (I&C) department. While the revised estimates (RE) of 2023–24 was Rs 567 crore, the budget estimates for the sector is nearly five times the amount this year. This amounts to a hike of over 350%.
Reiterating one of the pre-poll promises, the minister noted that Nizam Sugars at Bodhan and Mutyampet will be relaunched soon. The government has allocated Rs 138.63 crore for the project. “Once the pride of Telangana, Nizam Sugars Limited was closed down due to various problems. So far, no one has shown interest in its revival. But when this government took over, as promised, we appointed a committee in January for the restoration of Nizam Sugars Limited,” the minister said.
In May, the government had released Rs 43 crore as a one-time settlement to help reopen closed sugar factories across the state after holding discussions with bankers to clear the dues. In February this year, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged the subcommittee, which was constituted under the chairmanship of Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu, to provide suitable suggestions and recommendations to revive the factories. The chief minister had promised that the sugar factories would be reopened by September 17.
Additionally, the finance minister laid stress on developing the handloom sector. Pointing out that the handloom sector needs the government’s intervention most at this time, Vikramarka said the government had started measures for its revival by mandating cloth procurement for government departments and institutions.
They included school uniforms for students, bedsheets used in hospitals and so on. “All this will be procured from our local weavers through the Telangana Handloom Cooperative Society,” the minister added.
Vikramarka revealed that the government’s seven-year-old decision to establish the Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT) in Telangana is seeing the light of the day as the talks are going on with the Union government. Moreover, setting up a Centre of Excellence for Technical Textiles in the state is also on the cards.
