Union Budget 2026-27: BJP-led Centre snubs Telangana again

The Union Budget 2026-27 has drawn sharp criticism in Telangana for ignoring major infrastructure and urban development proposals worth Rs 1.63 lakh crore, including the Regional Ring Road, Hyderabad Metro Phase-2, and Musi River rejuvenation.

Hyderabad: The Union Budget 2026-27 has delivered another setback to Telangana, exposing the BJP-led Centre’s continuing indifference towards the State.

While representation of eight Telangana MPs proved to be of no use, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy‘s claims of maintaining a ‘Bade Bhai-Chote Bhai‘ relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi too proved to be mere rhetoric and failed to secure the State’s interests.

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For months, the State government projected confidence that its detailed proposals and political outreach would translate into meaningful allocations. Instead, the Budget has largely bypassed Telangana’s core demands and focused on pleasing the NDA alliance government in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, continuing its fiscal discrimination against Telangana.

The State had sought key projects worth nearly Rs 1.63 lakh crore in Central support for critical infrastructure including shared funding for the 350-km Regional Ring Road (RRR) (Rs 34,367 crore), ten greenfield radial roads linking RRR to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) (Rs 45,000 crore), and equitable participation in the Hyderabad Metro Phase-2 expansion (Phase 2A at Rs 24,269 crore and Phase 2B at Rs 19,759 crore). None of these found any concrete mention in the Budget.

Key urban and environmental proposals such as the Chief Minister’s pet project of Musi River rejuvenation at Rs 17,212 crore, Warangal’s underground drainage system and a Rs 17,000 crore greenfield expressway to Bandar port from dry port in Hyderabad, were also ignored. Even long-pending bifurcation promises, including major industrial and rail projects, remained unaddressed.

While Union Minister G Kishan Reddy spoke of approvals “in principle” for Hyderabad Metro Rail expansion and Musi River rejuvenation, the absence of clear budgetary allocations rendered these assurances hollow. Instead, the Centre allocated ambitious high-speed rail corridors from Hyderabad to Pune, Bengaluru and proposed another one to Chennai which would be more beneficial for neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra than for Telangana.

Meanwhile, Telangana’s Finance department has already observed a steep shortfall in Central grants for 2025-26, with only around Rs 4,000 crore received till January end, against an expected Rs 22,782 crore. With such under-delivery on allocations, officials feared tightened expenditure in the forthcoming financial year.

Critics argued that while the Centre continues to sideline Telangana, the State leadership has failed to convert political proximity into fiscal gains. The result is a double blow: national neglect compounded by weak negotiation, they said.