Bhatti Begins Budget Consultations

Hyderabad: Ahead of the presentation of the 2026-27 Budget in the Legislative Assembly on March 20, Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Tuesday held pre-budget meetings with ministers and officials at the Secretariat to finalise departmental proposals. The Budget outlay is likely to be between Rs.3.15 lakh crore and Rs.3.3 lakh crore, compared with Rs.3.04 lakh crore in 2025-26.

Bhatti held discussions with ministers Jupally Krishna Rao, Danasari ‘Seethakka’ Anasuya, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Gaddam Vivek Venkatswamy on the financial requirements of their departments.

Revenue minister Srinivas Reddy said the government aimed to make land transactions more transparent and improve services, particularly for farmers. He said the revenue, stamps and registration, and survey departments would be brought under a single administrative framework to reduce delays in resolving land-related issues.

He said a dedicated portal would be introduced to streamline services, and added that the government planned to replace outdated survey methods with rover-based technology for land surveys.

According to the minister, 460 rovers — one for each mandal — have already been procured, and proposals have been prepared in the upcoming Budget to purchase another 400. He also said a re-survey would be conducted in 373 villages that currently lack official maps and requested adequate budgetary allocation for the initiative in the 2026-27 Budget.

Directing officials to introduce employment-oriented courses in Advanced Technology Centres (ATCs), Bhatti said companies that had signed memoranda of understanding during the Global Summit should be approached to align courses with industry requirements.

Courses should also be designed in line with industries under the CURE, PURE and RARE policy framework and linked with the proposed Skill University, he said.

He also instructed officials to prepare plans to strengthen the tourism sector by promoting eco-tourism and temple tourism. “Tourist infrastructure should be developed in tiger reserve areas such as Kawal and Srisailam to attract more visitors,” he added.

Bhatti also directed officials to prepare proposals for establishing excise police stations and called for awareness programmes at the village level to address drug abuse among youth.