Telangana Budget 2025-26 exposes Revanth Reddy’s false claims on State’s debts

Pegs outstanding debt at Rs 4.51 lakh crore as per revised estimates for 2024-25, contradicting Chief Minister's repeated claims that the State’s debt had skyrocketed to Rs 7 lakh crore under the previous BRS regime

Hyderabad: The Telangana Budget for 2025-26 has officially pegged the outstanding debt at Rs 4.51 lakh crore as per revised estimates for 2024-25, contradicting Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy‘s repeated claims that the State’s debt had skyrocketed to Rs 7 lakh crore under the previous BRS regime.

The figures expose inconsistencies in the Congress government‘s narrative, raising questions about the accuracy of its financial claims.

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As per Budget documents, Telangana’s total debt, including borrowings since 2014-15, stands at Rs 4.51 lakh crore till March 2025, of which Rs 1.58 lakh crore was borrowed by the Congress government alone as acknowledged by the Chief Minister in the Assembly last week.

However, Revanth Reddy had earlier claimed in the Assembly that the State had inherited Rs 6.69 lakh crore in loans when Congress assumed power on December 7, 2023.

The outstanding public debt is Rs 3.56 lakh crore in 2022-23 and Rs 4.03 lakh crore in 2023-24. This includes open market loans, loans from the Central government and autonomous bodies, special securities, and also reserve funds and deposits.

Further discrepancies emerge in Revanth Reddy’s statements on debt servicing. While the Budget records Rs 30,847.37 crore spent on interest and principal repayment for 2024-25, the Chief Minister has claimed to have repaid Rs 1.4 lakh crore (again in the Assembly last week) — an exaggerated figure with no basis in official documents.