With the Union Budget 2022-23 being a major disappointment for Telangana and no significant rise in revenue receipts or grants from the Centre, the State administration has decided to keep its budget realistic.
Finance Department officials have begun fine-tuning the State budget for 2022-23, ensuring a fine balance between welfare and development.
According to sources, the budget is anticipated to increase by 10-15% over the previous fiscal year’s budget outlay of Rs 2.31 lakh crore. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was roughly Rs 9.8 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year, and it is expected to reach Rs 10.5 lakh crore in the current fiscal.
The average GSDP growth rate over the last eight years has been 7.5%. While agriculture remains a priority sector, alongside welfare programmes, education and health are projected to get a large share of the budget. Budget allocations are likely to prioritize flagship programmes such as Dalit Bandhu, Mana Ooru-Mana Badi, and health infrastructure development, among others.
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According to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, Dalit Bandhu would be allotted Rs 20,000 crore. More than Rs 10,000 crore is expected to be allocated to the education sector, including funds for the ‘Mana Ooru-Mana Badi’ programme, which aims to enhance infrastructure and introduce the English medium in government schools. In accordance with promises to increase health facilities in the state, including the construction of five multi-specialty hospitals, allocations to the health sector are expected to be over Rs 12,000 crore, nearly double the current fiscal’s allocation of Rs 5,868 crore.
T Harish Rao, the Finance Minister, had announced an ambitious budget of Rs 2.31 lakh crore for 2021-22. As against a target of the total of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in terms of revenue receipts, the State has realized Rs 86,051 crore including the State-own tax revenue of 74,496 crores near the end of December 2021 as per the Telangana State Accounts submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General. The officials stated at the beginning of January 2022, the total revenue receipts have crossed Rs 80,000 crore.
Revenue collections met budgetary expectations, however non-revenue collections and the Centre’s grant-in-aid reduced overall revenue collections. Non-tax revenue was Rs 5,181 crore, compared to a target of Rs 30,557 crore, while grants-in-aid from the Centre were just Rs 6,367 crore, compared to a budget estimate of Rs 38,669 crore. To compensate, the state government was forced to raise both the market value and the charges. To generate revenue, the government is also auctioning off district lands.
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