Bhatti Vikramarka seeks Central support for Young India schools project

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka sought additional Central assistance and borrowing relief for the Young India Integrated Residential Schools project, requesting increased borrowing limits and exemption for education-related loans during his meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka sought additional Central assistance and relief on borrowing limits to support the Congress government’s much-touted Young India Integrated Residential Schools (YIIRS). He submitted memorandums to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Delhi on Wednesday.

In the representations, Bhatti Vikramarka sought an additional borrowing limit of Rs 5,000 crore under the Centre’s Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI), which provides 50-year interest-free loans. He thanked the Union government for already sanctioning Rs 4,208 crore to Telangana under the scheme for 2025-26.

---

He also sought an exemption from Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) borrowing limits for loans linked to two major externally aided education projects. He argued that these were long-term capital investments in human resource development and should not be counted against the State’s borrowing ceiling of around Rs 77,000 crore.

The Congress government is planning a Rs 30,000 crore education infrastructure programme, including 105 YIIRS campuses, with plans to upgrade them into junior colleges, degree colleges, technical institutions and digital infrastructure worth Rs 9,000 crore. The Department of Economic Affairs has already cleared two externally funded components, including a Rs 4,049 crore ADB-backed residential schools project and a Rs 4,903 crore Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank-supported education infrastructure mission.

He said Telangana was sustaining major investments in education, healthcare, rural infrastructure and welfare, and that Central support would accelerate progress towards Viksit Bharat 2047 initiated by the Centre.