Hyderabad: Telangana’s finance minister T Harish Rao presented the state’s budget for 2020-21 in the Assembly on Sunday with a total outlay of Rs 1,82,914.42 crore. Of this, revenue expenditure will be Rs 1, 38,669.82 crore and capital expenditure Rs 22, 061.18 crore.
This was Harish Rao maiden budget as finance minister.
The priority areas for the government’s spending plans are panchayat raj, municipal administration, irrigation, education and health.
Construction of double bedroom houses and the Rythu Bandhu scheme are top of the list of priorities of the government.
A total of Rs 23,005 crore is proposed to be allocated to Panchayat Raj and Rural Development in this Budget.
In his speech, Harish Rao said, “to strengthen gram panchayats, the government is directly allocating funds in the budget. The state government is providing matching funds equivalent to funds provided by the Centre as well as Finance Commission devolution. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) we are allocating Rs 65 crore per month towards the material component.”
The allocation for Municipal Administration Department is Rs14, 809 crore, with Rs 148 crore being released every month for development of towns and cities.
Harish Rao said, “Under the Urban Mission Bhagiratha Scheme, we are proposing to spend Rs 800 crore for the remaining 38 municipalities.”
Harish Rao said 2,72,763 double-bedroom houses are in different stages of construction in Telangana and as promised in the last election manifesto of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
One lakh beneficiaries are going to get financial assistance towards house construction in the ensuing financial year.
An amount of Rs 11,917 crore has been allocated to the Housing Department in this Budget.
For the power sector, the allocation is Rs 10,416 crore. Harish Rao claimed that Telangana is the number one state in the country in terms of per capita consumption of electricity, which is the main indicator of development. Per capita electricity consumption in Telangana is 1,896 units compared to the national average of 1,181 units.
On education, the finance minister said the government was running 959 residential educational institutions for SC, ST, BC and minority students, providing them quality education as well as nutritious meals and accommodation.
The allocation for school education is proposed to be Rs10,421 crore for 2020-21, and Rs 1,723.27 crore for higher education.
The fee reimbursement scheme is expected to take up Rs 2,650 crore.
The health sector has been given Rs 6,186 crore, with the KCR kits and Amma Vodi vehicles being the highlights. Harish Rao said the number of government medical colleges will be increased from five to nine in the state.
As for law and order, the emphasis in the Budget was on modernization of the Police Department, with an allocation of Rs 5, 852 crore.
The total amount proposed for the Transport, Roads & Buildings Department in this Budget is Rs 3,494 crores. Of this, Rs 750 crore will go to highways.
An amount of Rs 550 crore is proposed to complete the construction of collectorates, district police offices and the Police Command Control Centre.
Harish Rao claimed that due to the progressive industrial policy adopted by the state government, heavy investments are coming to the state. So Rs 1,500 crore is proposed to be spent industrial incentives in 2020-21 and Rs.1, 998 crore towards development of the industrial sector.
Announcing that the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) is slowly recovering, the finance minister said Rs 1,000 crore would be allocated to it in the Budget.
He also announced that Rs 500 crore has been proposed for development of different temples in the state. Rs 791 crore has been set apart for the Environment and Forests.
