HYDERABAD: In a double whammy, the Telangana State Government has had to deal with significant reductions in FRBM loans from the Center in the first half of this fiscal year (April to September 2022-23), as well as massive cuts to Central and Center-Sponsored Schemes (CSS) grants, which have altered TS budget plans for 2022-23.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has appealed to Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and finance officials to get state finances back on track without overburdening people to make up for losses due to Center fund cuts in Telangana during the first half of this fiscal year.
The Center imposed a loan reduction of over Rs 15,000 crore for this financial year. The state government estimated to get Rs 41,002 crore from the Center in grants and CSS programs in the first half of this financial year but has only received Rs 5,687 crore so far. The Union Ministry of Rural Development has imposed cuts to funds for the Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP) and the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
Following this, the Chief Secretary, Special Chief Secretary for Finance K. Ramakrishna Rao and other senior finance department officials sprang into action to shore up the revenue of the state government.
Official sources said that the SC has suggested several measures to the CM as well as the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Revenue Mobilization led by Finance Minister T. Harish Rao to increase state revenue without weighing on the people. The CM reportedly praised CS for its “practical ideas” on revenue generation and asked it to move forward to execute its plans in coordination with relevant departments.
He is said to have suggested steps on how to reclaim the state’s share of valuable land in Hyderabad belonging to central PSUs which were allotted land by previous state governments and have now lapsed.
Undivided AP state governments have allocated land of approximately 7,200 acres to six central UAPs in and around Hyderabad including Hindustan Cables Limited, Hindustan Fluorocarbons Limited, Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) , Cement Corporation of Factories India Limited (CCI) and Ordinance. The market price of these open lands is said to be above Rs 40,000 crore. If salvaged and auctioned off, these plots of land would bring in huge revenue to the state government.
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