‘Telangana not a debt-ridden state’: BRS counters Cong's claims

Hyderabad, Dec 24: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Sunday came out with a strong counter to the Congress government’s white paper on Telangana’s finances, claiming that the value creation by BRS government during 10-year rule was more than Rs 50 lakh crore while denying that Telangana was turned into debt-ridden state.

BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao made a presentation and released a fact sheet, disputing the claims made in the white paper presented by the Congress government in the Assembly last week.

He put out a strong counter to the Congress government's narrative that KCR regime has turned Telangana into a debt-ridden state in the last 10 years.

It claimed that loans acquired by Telangana during the previous BRS government’s tenure amounted to Rs 3,17,015 crore and not Rs 6,71,757 crore as claimed by the new government.

As per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgement Management (FRBM) Act norms, Telangana’s total debt is Rs 3,89,673 lakh crore. Of this, Rs 72,658 crore was inherited from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh in population ratio. Therefore, the actual loans obtained during the BRS tenure stand at Rs 3,17,015 crore

KTR accused the Congress of attempting to tarnish Telangana’s image by portraying it as a failed state and labeling its government as an unsuccessful experiment.

The BRS working president also criticised the state government clubbing both government-guaranteed and non-guaranteed loans together, to exaggerate their claims. He claimed that only loans obtained under FRBM Act are considered as government debts across the country.

He specified that government-guaranteed loans raised by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) but serviced by the government are Rs 1,27,208 crore. Additionally, government-guaranteed loans raised and serviced by SPVs amount to Rs 95,462 crore, while non-guaranteed loans raised and serviced by SPVs/corporations/institutions are Rs 59,414 crore.

The former minister accused the Congress of misrepresentation of facts with regard to loans availed by SPVs/corporations/institutions. He said the Civil Supplies Corporation obtained Rs 56,000 crore loan for paddy purchase payments to farmers, as a temporary arrangement. However, there was no mention of pending amounts from the Centre and paddy stocks in the godowns valued at around Rs 30,000 crore.

KTR disputed the Congress‘s claim that Rs 4.98 lakh crore were spent by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government in Telangana over 60 years. He observed that if the amount was rightfully spent in Telangana, there would not have been a separate statehood movement. “Contrary to the 1956 ‘Gentleman Agreement’, the Congress party spent the revenue generated in Telangana elsewhere despite suggestions by several committees that Telangana deserves its rightful share," he said.

He emphasised that the previous governments, as per the white paper itself, spent Rs 4.98 lakh crore in 60 years, contrasting it with Rs 13.72 lakh crore spent in less than 10 years under the BRS regime

KTR recalled that when KCR took over as the Chief Minister, the finances were in doldrums. There was a 2,700-megawatt power deficit.

“We have inherited issues like fluorosis due to lack of clean drinking water, water scarcity,lack of medical facilities, etc. We have tasked ourselves to work on improving the livelihood of farmers, boosting law and order and irrigation challenges,” he said.

Stating that Telangana progressed in the last 10 years, KTR said the per capita income grew from Rs 1,12,162 in 2014 to Rs 3,17,115 in 2023. Similarly, GSDP grew from Rs 4.51 lakh crore to Rs 13.27 lakh crore in 2023. Poverty too reduced from 21.92 per cent in 2014 to just 5.8 per cent in the current fiscal year.

KTR suggested to the current Congress regime to concentrate on its responsibilities instead of defaming the previous government.

"Politically run your campaigns against us. But don't discredit the projects and create a wrong perception for investors. I want you all to check if there is any village in the Congress and the BJP ruled states in the entire country that has drinking water connections to every household, nurseries, funeral places of different religions? These facilities are available only in Telangana.”