Assembly Clears GST, Earth Sciences Varsity Bills

Hyderabad: The Assembly on Monday approved two key legislations — the Telangana Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2026, conferring legal status on the Dr Manmohan Singh Earth Sciences University, and the Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to align State law with Central provisions.

Excise and Prohibition Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who piloted the GST Amendment Bill, pegged the State’s loss under GST 2.0 at Rs 7,000 crore. Replying to MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, he said the State GST unit had outperformed the Central unit with 91 per cent tax filings against 88 per cent. On enforcement, he clarified that the Centre’s guidelines did not permit measures such as installing CCTV cameras to monitor compliance.

The minister pointed out that Telangana’s contribution to the Central pool was Rs 2.02 lakh crore, of which it received back only Rs 55,630 crore. He highlighted that southern States were being deprived of funds, citing Karnataka’s contribution of Rs 9.82 lakh crore against a return of Rs 1.56 lakh crore.

Explaining the amendments, the minister said a new Section 74A had been inserted to allow reclassification of assessment proceedings between fraud and non-fraud cases, as warranted by facts. He added that, in line with a Supreme Court ruling, extra neutral alcohol used in liquor manufacture had been excluded from GST through an amendment to Section 9.

Health Minister Damodara Rajanarsimha introduced the Universities Amendment Bill to establish the Dr Manmohan Singh Earth Sciences University. He announced that Rs 500 crore would be allocated over the next two years for its development, with 310 acres earmarked for expansion. “The Singareni mines, Godavari river and forest wealth of Kothagudem will serve as a ‘living laboratory’ for students,” he said. The university, inaugurated by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in December 2025, has been named after Dr Manmohan Singh as a tribute to his services, Mr. Rajanarsimha added.