HYDERABAD: The Telangana Assembly witnessed a heated debate over the Budget for 2024-25, with the main Opposition BRS accusing the state government of adopting contradictory positions when in Opposition and when in power. The BRS labelled the Budget as “unrealistic” and a “betrayal”, arguing that it failed to allocate funds for several pre-poll promises made by the Congress.
A key point raised by the BRS was the government’s expectation of receiving Rs 21,626.15 crore in the form of grants-in-aid from the Centre for 2024-25, despite having received only Rs 9,729.91 crore the previous year. The BRS questioned the feasibility of this projection, especially in light of the state recently passing a resolution in the Assembly claiming discrimination by the Centre in the Union Budget 2024-25.
Former finance minister T Harish Rao highlighted the inconsistency in the government’s revenue estimates from the Excise department. He said that when Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka was an opposition leader, he had criticised the BRS government’s estimate of Rs 19,884 crore from Excise in the 2023-24 Budget. Now, the Congress government has projected a significantly higher estimate of Rs 42,000 crore from excise and VAT on excise, Harish said.
Pointing out that the Excise department had generated approximately Rs 2,000 crore from liquor shop auctions in 2023-24, he said that there are no such auctions planned for this year, questioning the projections of additional revenues. The BRS MLA said that the government expects an additional Rs 5,773 crore in revenue, bringing the total estimated income to Rs 25,617 crore from the Excise department. He also noted the higher income expected from the sale of beer and cheap liquor.
Criticising the government’s performance, Harish challenged Vikramarka, who holds the Finance portfolio, to verify the status of power supply by speaking directly to the public. He said that the Budget estimates on non-tax revenues are overly optimistic, with a significant portion of the projected Rs 24,000 crore coming from the sale of public land, which he claims contradicts the government’s previous stance against such sales.
Harish exposed what he said were contradictions in the Budget allocations for the agricultural loan waiver and healthcare under Aarogyasri. He said that while the BRS government had allocated Rs 1,101 crore for Aarogyasri in 2023-24, the Congress government has reduced this to Rs 1,065 crore despite claiming to have doubled the coverage from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The BRS also took credit for the increase in the state’s GSDP through the implementation of various schemes. Responding to allegations that the BRS had pushed the state into a debt trap with loans amounting to Rs 6,71,757 crore, Harish said that the BRS government had taken loans of Rs 4,26,499 crore, excluding those taken during the Congress regime, and asserted that these loans were used to create assets.