V. V. Balakrishna Journalist

Monday, 4 April 2016

Irrigation Projects: TS Government Agrees to Price Adjustment

By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: The state government has finally decided to continue with the existing contracting agencies to complete the 13 major and 12 medium irrigation projects by making ‘price adjustment’ as per the increased costs. Orders to this effect were issued by the irrigation department here on Thursday.

The government had initially thought of inviting fresh tenders for completion of the 25 projects, most of which had been started during 2004-09 by the then government of combined state but the fresh price adjustment would have cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 15,000 crore. Therefore, it decided to retain the existing contractors by giving additional amount as per the cost escalation and complete the projects by 2018-19. This will cost the exchequer around Rs 3,000 crore. There are 111 packages to be completed.

The Builders Association of India (BAI) highlighted the difficulties encountered by their members in completing the projects and urged the government to take steps for completion of the projects without further delay.

Later, the government constituted a committee of experts to examine the issues represented by BAI members and a cabinet sub-committee was constituted for the purpose. As per its recommendations, the government agreed to allow cost escalation for the existing contractors and complete the projects in a time-bound manner.

However, only cases of those agencies will be considered in which project authorities are satisfied that the lapses were not on the part of the agency and delay is due to reasons not attributable to the agency.

The issues such as LA/RR/forest clearances/railways/NHAI crossings that caused delays in the first place should have either been resolved or could be resolved in foreseeable future will also be considered.

The government felt it prudent and economical (financially and in terms of time) to consider the demands of BAI instead of terminating the agreements and calling for fresh bids at current SSRs.

Closing of agreements may also lead to litigation and indefinite financial liabilities to the government. In addition to steel, cement and POL, price adjustment will be admissible for labour and other material components also for the work done after April 2013.

Keeping in view the importance of AMRP-SLBC tunnel work, reimbursement of variation in foreign exchange shall also be considered in addition to price adjustment for labour and other materials.

Measures & Objectives

■ Govt to continue with existing contractors.

■ 13 major & 12 medium irrigation projects to be completed by 2018-19.

■ Works on 111 packages pending since 2005.

■ The 25 projects to provide irrigation for 49 lakh acres.

■ The burden would have been Rs 15,000 cr had the agreements been closed and fresh bids invited.

Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Per Capita Debt Burden at Rs 28,000

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.

“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

Urban Unemployment A Major Concern for State, Says Economic Survey

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.

Budget to Put Hold on 'Wasteful Spending'

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.

5 Key Areas That Telangana Budget Focuses On

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.

Budget to Put Hold on 'Wasteful Spending'

Budget For Bangaru Telangana

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.

Budget For Bangaru Telangana

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.

Friday, 4 March 2016

Krishna Water: TS for 'Arbitrary Mechanism

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.