T'gana presents Rs. 2.30L cr budget despite Covid impact

Hyderabad: Notwithstanding the impact of Covid pandemic on revenues, Telangana on Thursday presented a Rs 2.30 lakh crore-Budget, 26 per cent higher than the previous year's outlay.

Finance Minister T Harish Rao in the Assembly presented the 2021-22 Budget, proposing total expenditure of Rs 2,30,825.96 crore comprising revenue expenditure of Rs 1,69,383.44 crore and capital expenditure of Rs 29,046.77 crore. Revenue surplus in the Budget is estimated at Rs 6,743.50 crore and the estimated fiscal deficit is Rs 45,509.60 crore.

The massive outlay, 63 per cent higher than the revised estimates of Rs 1.46 lakh crore for 2020-21, was despite reports that the government may downsize the Budget due to the impact of the pandemic on the state's revenues.

Pointing out that the lockdown had a drastic impact on the economy of the States and the Centre, the minister the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country plummeted like never before in the history. While the GDP growth at current prices in 2020-21 is estimated to be at -3.8 per cent, in Telangana, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is estimated to be at +1.3 per cent. He said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao took the steps to protect the health of the people also took precautionary steps to minimise the impact of corona on State economy.

Stating that the State economy is on a gradual recovery path, he hoped that there would be significant improvement in the GSDP of the State in the next financial year. The Budget has been formulated accordingly, he said.

"As per advance estimates, GSDP at current prices in 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 9,78,373 crore. With the adverse impact of corona and lockdown, the growth of GSDP declined significantly from 13.5 per cent in 2019-20 to 1.3 per cent in 2020-21. The national GDP growth declined from 7.8 per cent to -3.8 per cent in the same period. As compared with the national GDP growth, State's GSDP growth is much better," he said.