Telangana Budget will fall flat, says Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka

The CLP leader said the State government had proposed an expenditure outlay of Rs 2,90,396 crore, but nearly Rs 70,000 crore out of it won't come as they were Central funds and grants.

Hyderabad: Congress Legislative Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that though the State Budget looked ‘very huge’ in terms of allocations, there was no scope for its implementation as the revenue projections did not match the funds likely to be received by the State during 2023-24 fiscal.

Taking part in the debate on the Budget in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, the CLP leader said the State government had proposed an expenditure outlay of Rs 2,90,396 crore, but nearly Rs 70,000 crore out of it won’t come as they were Central funds and grants. During the current fiscal year, the Central grant projections were Rs 40,000 crore, but only Rs 9,000 crore was released, hence, what was the guarantee that the Centre would release the entire projected grant for 2023-24, he asked.

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“We have been observing that the Central grant has never crossed Rs 10,000 crore in the last eight years. Hence, announcing schemes and programmes projecting it was wrong,” he said. Since the 2023-24 Budget was increased by over Rs 30,000 crore over the current fiscal, how would the government be able to fund all the promises made in the Budget, he asked, stating that the Budget would not fulfil the aspirations of the people of Telangana.

Commenting on the Hindenburg-Adani controversy, Vikramarka alleged that Prime Minister Modi was trying to save industrialist Gautam Adani. The BJP-led government at the Centre was handing over all the wealth of the country to crony capitalists, he said and urged opposition parties to join hands in exposing the ill intentions of the BJP.