Telangana top in percentage of development expenditure

Telangana has remained number one for two consecutive years when it comes to percentage of the State budget spent for development purposes

Hyderabad: Indicating the State government’s thrust on development, Telangana has remained number one for two consecutive years when it comes to percentage of the State budget spent for development purposes. In terms of amount spent, the State was ranked fifth among the States with Rs 1.98 lakh crore against the total budget of Rs 2.56 lakh crore in 2022-23.

For 2022-23, the top four States including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, are all larger than Telangana in terms of population, geographical area and even overall economy.

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The development expenditure comprises revenue and capital expenditure towards development purposes. An improvement in the quality of public spending pursued through higher share of productive expenditure is key to supporting medium-term growth, maintaining fiscal sustainability and containing inflationary pressures.

As per recent reports published by the Reserve Bank of India, of its total budget for corresponding years, Telangana spent 77.4 percent in 2022-23 and 76.3 percent in 2021-22. In 2020-21 as well, Telangana spent 69.7 percent of its total budget for development and was ranked third among all States after Delhi and Arunachal Pradesh.

Despite the union government imposing several fiscal restrictions and cutting down funds to the State, Telangana scored big in terms of development expenditure due to an impressive growth of 19 per cent in the State-owned Tax Revenue (SOTR), said to be the highest in the country.

During the financial year of 2021-22, Telangana collected a massive Rs 1.09 lakh crore which is a staggering increase from tax revenue of Rs 67,963 crore collected during the fiscal of 2020-21. Telangana has already recorded revenue collection of more than Rs 1 lakh crore by December this fiscal. If the latest tax collections during the current fiscal are any indication, it is likely to collect a total of Rs 1.27 lakh crore by the end of March 2023.