BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao speaks on development of Telangana in last nine and half years at Telangana Bhavan, in Hyderabad on Sunday, December 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna
Dismissing the white papers presented by the government in the Assembly as utter lies, the BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao tried to set the record straight presenting his set of figures on debts acquired from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and NITI Aayog reports.
In a presentation titled ‘Sweda Patram’ (Document of Sweat) at the Telangana Bhavan on Sunday, the former IT Minister ridiculed the government’s claim of ₹6,71,757 crore debts and said the actual figure was ₹3,17,015 crore. The government has conveniently suppressed figures or used them to its advantage than presenting the factual report.
Mr. KTR urged the government not to belittle the achievements of Telangana and in the process destroy its image. “You cannot portray Telangana as a failed state when it is on top of all the charts on several parameters in several sectors,” he said.
Contradicting the government’s figures, he said as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgement Management (FRBM) Act norms Telangana’s total debt was ₹3,89,673 lakh crore. Of this, ₹72,658 crore was inherited from the combined Andhra Pradesh in population ratio. If you remove this figure the actual loans taken by the BRS government stood at ₹3,17,015 crore only.
Alleging that the Congress government was trying to belittle the achievements of KCR government and his image, he said the government deliberately clubbed government-guaranteed and non-guaranteed loans together, to arrive at exaggerated figures. The government-guaranteed loans raised by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) but serviced by the government were ₹1,27,208 crore.
The loans guaranteed by the government and serviced by SPVs were ₹95,462 crore while the loans that were not guaranteed raised and serviced by SPVs, Corporations and Institutions were ₹59,414 crore. All these are clubbed to arrive at a higher figure of debts by the government, he claimed.
Mr. KTR further said that ₹56,000 crore loan in the Civil Supplies Corporation contains the money obtained for paddy purchase payments to farmers which is repaid immediately after the paddy sale. Moreover, the paddy stock worth ₹30,000 crores was in godowns. So, the loan in civil supplies was just ₹21,029 crore, he said.
The former Minister said the White Paper presented in the Assembly itself mentioned ₹13.72 lakh crore spent during the BRS regime in the last 10 years while the figure was just ₹4.98 lakh crore in the last 60 years indicating how Telangana benefitted being a separate state.
Power sector
Mr. KTR said the total expenditure in the Power sector was ₹1,37,517 crore in the BRS regime but the present value of the assets created was ₹6,87,585 crore, which is five times higher. Power production capacity was 7,778 MW when Telangana was formed while it is 19,464 MW today. How can investments on this be a debt, he asked.
Agriculture Sector
Mr. KTR argued that ₹36,899 crore spent annually for 24 hour free electricity, ₹30,000 crore loan waiver for 58.29 lakh farmers, ₹73,000 crores disbursed for Rythu Bandhu and ₹1,34,768 crore worth of grain procured in nine years (723 lakh metric tonnes) are all assets and not debts. These investments ensured cultivation land increased to 2.68 acres annually from 1.31 crore acres and the grain production increasing from 68 lakh tonnes to 350 lakh tonnes.
Irrigation Sector
Stating that the total outlay in the Irrigation sector was ₹1,76,000 crore where reservoirs worth 204 TMCs were constructed including in reservoirs in Kaleshwaram, Palamuru Rangareddy and Sitarama projects. This investment brought in stability for 50 lakh acres of cultivated land and an additional 30 lakh acres will be brought in the next three years. Minor issues in the Kaleshwaram project cannot undermine its utility and the present government should take advantage of the facilities created and improve further, he said.
