Telangana Budget Paints A Grim Picture

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao presented the State Budget for 2019-20 in the State Assembly a little while ago. The statement he made during that indicates things are not well. “I regret that I am presenting the state budget for 2019-20 in the House when both the Centre and State are going through a severe financial crisis. We have to tread carefully and cautiously during such a testing time. We cannot go beyond certain limits,” KCR said.

Besides the Chief Minister’s Statement, the numbers paint the actual scenario. Telangana had anticipated 15 percent growth in tax revenue but in the first quarter of 2019-20, only 5.46 percent has been realized. In the last five financial years, Telangana recorded an average of 13.36 percent growth rate in commercial taxes. In the first four months this financial year, it is only 6.61 percent.

In stamps and registration, till last financial, 19.8 percent growth rate was recorded. That has dipped marginally to 17.5 percent in the first four months of this financial year. The worst situation is in motor vehicle taxes where the last five years recorded a 19 percent growth rate. It has now declined to minus 2.06 percent in the first four months of 2019-20.

The non-tax revenue is down to minus 14.16 percent compared to a growth rate of 14.9 percent in the last five years. Political Experts say that the worse is yet to come for the State in subsequent months and so, KCR chose to tell the reality to the people at the same time, he blamed conditions in Delhi for the current ordeal. Earlier, it was expected that 1.67-1.7 Lakh Crore budget would be tabled but a modest budget of 1,46,492.3 Crore was presented.