HYDERABAD: With the state availing more loans, the per capita debt burden is also increasing. The debt burden per person is estimated to be around Rs 28,000 in Telangana.
The total outstanding debts of Telangana as per the revised estimates for 2015-16 stood at Rs 1,00,707.95 crore. As per the 2011 census, the population of Telangana is 35,003,674.
However, the statement of Fiscal Policy of the State laid in the Assembly on Monday stated that the main objective of the debt management in the state is to ensure that the financing of the budget and refinancing of the debt is done at the lowest possible cost in medium to long term, all within the prudent limits of risk.
“To promote economic development and to increase investments in lasting and productive assets, efforts will be made to supplement the resources of the State government through the additional cushion recommended by the 14th Finance Commission to less debt-stressed states. The possibilities of raising money through budgetary sources will also be explored to supplement the resources of the State for investment in capital assets. Thus, the strategy is to explore raising borrowing for productive investments within prudent limits,” the Fiscal Policy stated
HYDERABAD: Unemployment is one of the major concerns at the present juncture, especially in urban areas of the state, according to the ‘Socio Economic Outlook 2016: Reinventing Telangana, the Way Forward’, which was tabled in the State Assembly on Monday.
According the survey, the unemployment rate under the usual principal and subsidiary status (UPSS) among the age group of 15 years and above is 2.7 per cent. In rural areas, the unemployment rate is 1.1 percent whereas in urban areas it is 6.6 per cent, indicating that unemployment in urban areas is much higher than in rural areas.
It is also noteworthy that in the age group 15-29 years, unemployment rate is estimated to be 7.7 percent under the UPSS at state level, 3.8 per cent in rural areas and 17.2 per cent in urban areas. This indicates that youth unemployment is one of the major concerns at the present juncture, especially in urban areas.
JOB PATTERN
On the employment patterns, the survey said that along with the structural changes in the economy, a corresponding change was observed in the employment pattern too. Over a period of time, there has been a shift in employment from primary to the secondary and to the tertiary sectors, both in terms of output and employment. However, the shift in employment is not as rapid as the changes observed in sectoral output.
The share of agriculture in total GSDP has been declining steeply compared to decline in employment in the agricultural sector. At the 2011-12 prices, the share of agriculture and allied activities in total gross value added (GVA) was 12.9 per cent, whereas about 55.6 percent of total workforce is dependant on it. Further, the share of services sector in total GVA is 60.5 per cent but it is providing employment to only 26.6 per cent workforce. Industry is contributing about 26.7 per cent to GVA while 17.8 per cent of total workforce is dependent on this sector for employment. Though, urban areas have seen a greater diversification in terms of employment over a period of time, a majority of rural areas still depend heavily on agriculture.
LITERACY & GENDER: Another alarming factor is that the gender gap in literacy rates in the state. “At the state level, the female literacy rate was only 57.9 per cent as against 75 per cent among males in 2011, indicating a gap of 17.1 percentage points. Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Nizamabad and Medak have shown a higher gender disparity of 20 percentage points. The gender gap in literacy was more in rural areas at 20.4 points than in urban areas at 11 points at the state level. The gender gap in rural literacy was the lowest in Khammam at 15.8 percentage points and the gender gap in urban literacy was the lowest in Hyderabad at 7.7 percentage points.
Districts with low literacy rates such as Mahbubnagar, Medak and Nizamabad had a higher gender gap. Thus, the overall literacy rate can be improved by improving female literacy, the survey suggested.
The gender gap among SCs was 18.1 and among STs it was 20.1 percentage points at the state level in 2011 as against 17.1 percentage points among all caste groups. The gender gap in literacy did not vary much across the caste groups in the state. The same pattern can be observed across the districts except in Hyderabad and Rangareddy where the gender gap among all caste groups was lower than that of SCs and STs.
HYDERABAD: “Cutting down on wasteful expenditure, revenue augmentation and enhancing allocations for welfare are our goals,” finance minister E Rajender said in his budget speech on Monday.
Accordingly, the state government has reduced the number of its schemes from 840 to 461. “We have deleted 380 wasteful schemes from this budget,” he told reporters after presenting the budget.
He told the House that provisions proposed for next year and provisions for this year were not strictly comparable department-wise. “As part of the rationalisation of expenditure, a number of plan schemes with similar activities have been clubbed together in a number of departments and a few schemes with only a salary expenditure have been shifted to non-plan from plan. Mission Bhagiratha and two-bedroom housing are proposed to be funded entirely from extra-budgetary resources. No provision has been made under the plan for these schemes except provision required for counterpart funding.”
On the state’s economy, he said that the GSDP was estimated to grow at an impressive rate of 11.7 pc in 2015-16 at current prices, despite a negative growth in agriculture and allied sectors. “This growth rate is more than the national average of 8.6 pc.”
““The policies formulated and being implemented in mission mode by the government have been well-received by people. Nothing satisfies a committed government like ours more than an endorsement of its policies by the people for whom they are meant.”
“In addition to such an endorsement, our government has received several ratings and accolades from within the country and outside. We are not resting on these laurels. These have made us more determined and conscious of our duty towards achieving Bangaru Telangana,” the finance minister said.
The state government has accorded priority to the newly-conceived four irrigation projects - Palamuru-Rangareddy, Kaleshwaram lift, Sitarama and Bhakta Ramadasu irrigation projects.
Out of the proposed outlay of Rs 25,000 crore for irrigation sector, Rs 2,000 crore will go to Mission Kakatiya. Of the remaining Rs 23,000 crore, the four newly-conceived projects will get a major chunk of Rs 15,300 crore.
In the wake of the MoU with Maharashtra, the path has been cleared for taking up projects at Medigadda on river Godavari, Tummadi Hatti on the Pranahita, Rajapet, Chanaka-Korata and Pimprad on the Penganga. The Palamuru lift irrigation scheme will cover southern Telangana and Kaleswaram northern Telangana. Adilabad district will receive irrigation water from the Pranahita project while the Sri Sitarama and Bhakta Ramadasu projects will provide irrigation facilities to Khammam district. Efforts are on to complete the ongoing major and medium projects expeditiously.
Agriculture
Finance minister E Rajender assured that by 2017-18, 100 per cent crop loan waiver would be achieved. Farm loan waiver amounting to Rs 17,000 crore is being implemented. Out of the four instalments, two instalments of waiver amount have been deposited into bank accounts. The third instalment will be released in 2016-17. An unprecedented amount of Rs 25,000 crore has been proposed for the irrigation sector in the 2016-17 budget with the ultimate objective of providing irrigation water to every acre of cultivated land in the state and making agriculture in the state totally drought-proof.
Crop colonies for paddy, maize, pulses and oil seeds, encouraging greenhouse cultivation, developing post-harvest and marketing facilities have been taken up in the budget. The government proposed to cover 600 SC and ST farmers under polyhouse cultivation in 2016-17 with 100 per cent subsidy. Plans have already been formulated to provide soil health cards to farmers next year to facilitate judicious use of chemical fertilisers and to improve soil productivity.
Medical & Health
Giving due importance to the medical and health sector, Rajender said the government is of the firm conviction that development is not mere growth of GSDP. Renowned economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen once remarked that though India stands at second place in terms of growth rate, its position in Human Development Index (HDI) is 138. Provision of better education and health facilities is the only means to bridge the gap between the growth rate and the HDI, the minister said.
As part of rejuvenation and modernisation of government health care system, a substantial increase in the provision for the health sector has been proposed in the budget. A provision of Rs 600 crore for replacement/purchase of equipment, Rs 316 crore for diagnostic equipment, replacement of old beds and carrying out repairs to civil works has been proposed. A substantial increase in the provision for the purchase of drugs, surgical and disposals has been proposed from Rs 117 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 225 crore in 2016-17. An amount of Rs 56 crore is proposed to be provided to the three heads of departments to meet emergent needs. Suitable powers are proposed to be delegated to superintendents of hospitals.
Welfare
On the welfare front, the FM said the development which is not inclusive is not sustainable. Therefore, the government is focusing more and more on welfare schemes and has emerged as one of the leading welfare States in the country. In the Budget 2016-17, an amount of Rs 13,412 crore is proposed for the welfare programmes.
After the report of the commission of inquiry, government will examine the recommendations with regard to measures needed to improve social economic conditions of tribals and the feasibility of including Valmiki Boya and Khaithi Lambada communities in the ST category.
Apart from the reimbursement of tuition fee for BCs, free coaching is being provided at 10 BC Study Circles for BC students. The government will sanction 70 new English-medium residential schools for minorities and these schools will become operational in 2016-17.
Electricity
Rajender announced that there would never be power cuts in future. Within the next three years, the government aims to achieve a power-generating capacity of 23,912 MW.
He declared that the government made an unwavering commitment to provide nine hours of power supply for agriculture from the next Khariff season. A MoU has been signed with BHEL for establishment of 6,000 MW capacity thermal power plants at various locations in TS on EPC basis.
HYDERABAD: With the state availing more loans, the per capita debt burden is also increasing. The debt burden per person is estimated to be around Rs 28,000 in Telangana.
The total outstanding debts of Telangana as per the revised estimates for 2015-16 stood at Rs 1,00,707.95 crore. As per the 2011 census, the population of Telangana is 35,003,674.
However, the statement of Fiscal Policy of the State laid in the Assembly on Monday stated that the main objective of the debt management in the state is to ensure that the financing of the budget and refinancing of the debt is done at the lowest possible cost in medium to long term, all within the prudent limits of risk.HYDERABAD: Irrigation, Welfare and Development are the three ‘mantras’ that form the catchline of Telangana Budget for 2016-17, presented by Finance minister Etela Rajender on Monday.
The Budget, which bears the stamp of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s vision of ‘Bangaru Telangana’, has an outlay of Rs 1,30,415.87 crore and expects surplus revenue to the tune of Rs 3,718 crore.
Underlining Chief Minister KCR’s resolve to provide irrigation facilities to every nook and corner of Telangana state, the state government has allocated Rs 25,000 crore to Irrigation sector, which amounts to more than one-third of the total plan expenditure. The Budget presented by Finance minister E Rajender in the State Legislative Assembly on Monday clearly focused on welfare and development. For the first time, Telangana joined five other states in the country by presenting a balanced Budget without burdening the commonman and allocating more funds to plan expenditure than non-plan sector.
The third budget of Telangana has its focus on rural development and industrial growth. The Budget proposes a total expenditure of Rs 1,30,415.87 crore. While Rs 62,785.14 crore has been set aside for non-plan expenditure, the government allocated Rs 67,630.73 crore for plan expenditure.
“This is unprecedented as the proposed expenditure of plan sector is higher than non-plan expenditure. This has been done without compromising on non-plan commitments by a combination of rationalisation of expenditure and resource augmentation,” explained minister E Rajender.
Etela, in his third consecutive Budget, has set priorities and the allocations definitely carry the stamp of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao.
In an unprecedented move, Rao himself reviewed the working of each department, the relevance of each scheme in its minutest detail and the resource potential to tap funds effectively. “As a result, the Budget 2016-17 is totally transformational and tailored to address the long-pending aspirations of Telangana. It entirely bears the mark of the CM,” said Etela
Laying stress on KCR’s irrigation policy, the state government allocated Rs 25,000 crore to the sector under plan expenditure, which was almost 37 per cent of the total plan expenditure of the State. Of the Rs 25,000 crore, around Rs 2,000 crore has been set aside for Mission Kakatiya scheme aimed at restoration of minor irrigation tanks. The remaining Rs 23,000 crore would be completely spent on the construction of irrigation projects.
Also, some of the poll promises like allocation of Rs 300 crore for GWMC were met without compromising on the focus on IT and industrial sectors which will have an impact on the development and safety aspects of Hyderabad.
Keeping the promise given to residents of Greater Hyderabad during the recently held GHMC elections, the government made allocations to take up development works in the state capital.
The Budget also ensures adequate allocation for social welfare. The minorities welfare allocation crossed Rs 1,000 crore, keeping in mind Rao’s assurance to minorities.
Besides, irrigation, the Budget gives priority to welfare, agriculture, industries, energy and health care sectors.
Etela Presents Rs 1.30 Lakh Cr Budget
The Budget, which bears the stamp of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s vision of ‘Bangaru Telangana’, has an outlay of Rs 1,30,415.87 crore Telangana joins five other states in the country by presenting a balanced Budget without burdening the commonman and allocating more funds to plan expenditure than non-plan sector.
HYDERABAD: As the legal battle against sharing of Krishna river waters is taking years together, official sources in Telangana government wants the centre to come up with some ‘arbitrary mechanism’ for resolving the issue amicably between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, till a lasting solution is found either by the Supreme Court or by the Krishna Water Tribunal.
Impasse is continuing between AP and TS over sharing Krishna waters for the ensuing rabi season. AP requires 180 tmc for agricultural operations in Krishna delta, while TS requires 153 tmc for second crop and drinking water needs. But, the available water in Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) is only 102 tmc.
When, AP and TS represented the matter to Union water resources minister Uma Bharati, she wanted both the states to resolve the matter at Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). However, officials in Telangana irrigation pointed out that KRMB could only regulate the flow of water and it could not allocate the water. The water allocation will be done by the Tribunals.
However, a case is pending in Supreme Court over sharing of Krishna waters. Another case is pending with the Krishna Water Tribunal headed by Brijesh Kumar. The Tribunal posted the hearing to February 25. But, on that day it would hear arguments only on whether to make Maharashtra and Karnataka as parties in the future hearings or not.
The sources suggested that the Centre come up with an an ‘arbitrary mechanism” to resolve the issue on a temporary basis. Developing such arbitrary mechanism would help resolve issues between not only AP and TS, but also issues between Karnataka and Tamil Naidu and disputes between any other two states, the official sources said.
HYDERABAD: In what could be termed a shot in the arm for the industrial sector in Telangana, a high-level committee (HLC) of the department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) accorded final approval for the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Medak district.
The DIPP also sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore grant for the first phase of the project on Thursday, besides giving in-principle approval for the proposed Pharma City.
The DIPP meeting, chaired by secretary Amitabh Kant, gave the final clearance to Medak NIMZ in New Delhi on Thursday. Industries Secretary Arvind Kumar made a presentation at the meeting on the progress of NIMZ including land acquisition.
Later, Amitabh Kant gave final clearance for NIMZ. The final clearance will facilitate the state government to start works to provide basic infrastructure immediately.
“The first phase of NIMZ is expected to create an employment potential of one lakh jobs and the Central government will provide a grant of Rs 1,000 crore to the state government,” an official at the Industries department told Express.
The NIMZ, Medak was announced by the Central government in 2013. But, the final approval from DIPP was pending.
After the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and setting up of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSIIC), the basic works on NIMZ like land acquisition works were speeded up. The TSIIC had sanctioned Rs 20 crore in March for payment of compensation for acquisition/alienation of land for establishment of NIMZ.
The NIMZ, Medak was planned on 12,000 acres of land and the total investment is expected to touch Rs 40,000 crore over a period of time. In all, the NIMZ is expected to provide direct employment to three lakh people.
From Textile to IT, Food to Aerospace
Employment-intensive industries like textiles and garments, leather and footwear, gems and jewellery, food processing and others and also capital goods industries like machine tools, heavy electrical equipments, heavy transport, earth moving and mining equipments will come up in NIMZ.
Aerospace, shipping, IT hardware and electronics; telecommunication equipment, defence equipment and solar energy, especially auto-mobile, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are also likely to come up in NIMZ.
Boost for Industry
National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) are proposed with an aim to increase the share of manufacturing sector in the country’s GDP from the current 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.
HYDERABAD: Power consumers in the state can expect a mild shock this year too as the Telangana Discoms have decided to file aggregate revenue requirement (ARRs) for the year 2016-17.
“We will file ARRs on February 15 before TS Electricity Regulatory Commission,” Chairman and Managing Director of Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Ltd (SPDCL) G Raghuma Reddy told Express on Thursday.
In their first ARRs submitted to TSERC in February 2015, the Discoms proposed a nominal average increase of 4.9 per cent.
Last year, the Discoms had burdened the consumers demanding a revenue requirement of `1,000 crore. Asked about the quantum of increase in power tariff, Raghuma Reddy said: “Wait till we file ARRs. It is a secret till then”. The TS Genco has plans to increase the installed capacity from the present 8,000 MW to 24,000 MW by 2018.
HYDERABAD: A day after announcing the first list of 20 smart cities, the Centre on Friday assured the Telangana government that Warangal city would be included in the next list of 23 cities.
The central government decided to develop 100 cities as smart cities in the country and released the first list of 20 cities on Thursday.
“The Centre has released the first list of 20 cities. Warangal, which was ranked 21st in the list, missed the first list by a whisker,” a senior official in the CMO told Express on Friday.
Union cabinet secretary PK Sinha, who held a video conference with state chief secretaries and municipal administration and urban development secretaries on smart cities from Delhi on Friday, assured the Telangana government that Warangal had just missed the bus and would be included in the next list of smart cities which was likely to be announced in April.
“You still have time. If you want to make any modifications to the already submitted proposals, send the revised proposal,” the Union cabinet secretary told the state administration. According to sources, the cabinet secretary informed the states that national and international experts gave rankings to the proposals and released the first list of smart cities. The central government had no role in identifying the smart cities, he said. Sources said 23 states and Union Territories, which missed the chance in the first list, would figure in the second list of 23 cities. The remaining 57 cities would be named sometime after June.
The state government had already requested the Centre to replace Hyderabad with Karimnagar in the list of smart cities. “We will send modified proposals for Warangal immediately. We will direct the Karimnagar municipal commissioner to prepare the necessary proposals at the earliest,” sources said.
As per the state government’s proposal, development of Warangal as a smart city would entail an expenditure of Rs 2,620 crore.
Warangal Ranked 21st
Warangal, ranked 21st, has missed the first list of 20 cities.
It will be included in the second list of 23 cities.
State preparing proposals worth `2,620 cr for Warangal.
TS govt wants Karimnagar to be included in the third list of 57
HYDERABAD: Telangana state spotted a niche in the Make in India market in Mumbai. Several investors evinced keen interest to invest in the state.
One among them is Cipla, a top pharmaceutical company, which offered to invest Rs 500 crore in Telangana. Three more firms, Vian Mobiles, Neelkamal plastics and a textile firm in Nodia too expressed interest to expand their business in Telangana.
‘‘We will ask Cipla to invest in the proposed Pharma City. Cipla offered to invest Rs 500 crore,” sources in the industries department told Express on Wednesday.
Recently, Ferring Pharmaceuticals which has a global presence as a manufacturing and R&D centre represented by its chairman Frederik Paulsen and CMD, India Dr Ashok Alate called on chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with an investment proposal of $100-250 million.
Meanwhile, Vian Mobiles too is likely to start their manufacturing unit like Celkon and Micromax in the state. The state government will allot land to Vian Mobiles in the Fab City.
“The representatives of Vian will soon come to the state and after inspecting the lands, they will announce the quantum of investments,” sources said.
The location of Neelkamal is to be finalised after they visit the state. Neelkamal has no other manufacturing unit outside Mumbai. TS unit will be the first plant outside Mumbai, if the plan materialises, sources said.
A Noida-based textile firm will set up their shop in the proposed Textiles Park in Warangal. On the last day of Make In India week event in Mumbai on Thursday, the first hour between 11 am 12 noon has been declared as Telangana Day.
Industries minister Jupally Krishna Rao and industries secretary Arvind Kumar will participate in Telangana Day.
Sources said AP government put up their stall in the Make In India week with Rs 20 crore, but TS government put up a small stall with an investment of Rs 20 lakh.
However, investors evinced more interest in Telangana, sources claimed.
