KTR writes to Centre for funds in Union Budget

Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday wrote to the Centre seeking allocation of sufficient funds in the union Budget 2023-24 for development of different towns and cities in Telangana.

Reminding the Centre that the Telangana government had made several requests seeking assistance for taking up different development works in Hyderabad and other towns, he said each time the State submitted proposals, there was only disappointment.

The Telangana government was committed to spurring growth and development in towns. The BJP government should allocate requisite funds to Telangana and prove its commitment towards the State, he said.

The Centre should either grant sufficient funds for different development works being taken up in Hyderabad, Warangal and other ULBs, or else announce special packages for Hyderabad and Warangal cities, he said.

Due to the union government’s discrimination towards Telangana, not a single rupee was sanctioned additionally to the State. However, despite the step-motherly treatment, Telangana was witnessing rapid progress in ULBs and other sectors, he said.

Stating that Telangana was surging ahead with its financial prudence and was one of the leading States contributing to the Centre through different taxes, the Minister wanted the Centre to extend more



support to better performing States.

Since this would be the last financial budget to be presented by the BJP government, the Minister urged the union government to allocate sufficient funds to Telangana.

“The BJP government should sanction more funds and incentives to better performing States and prove its commitment in safeguarding the federal spirit,” Rama Rao said.

Considering rapid urbanization and with already 47 per cent of the people in Telangana living in urban areas, the State government was taking up different development works with special focus on infrastructure improvement. Towards this, the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 was brought out which included a mandatory provision of 10 per cent of ULB Budget as ‘Green Budget’ and self-certification based single window online approval system for building approvals (TSbPASS Act).

The Minister also listed out various urban infrastructure projects planned and initiated by the State government with its own funds. These included the Strategic Road Development Project (SRDP), Strategic Nala Development Project (SNDP), Comprehensive Road Maintenance Project (CRMP), Hyderabad Road Development Corporation (HRDC), Musi River Development Corporation (MRDC) and Telangana Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (TUFIDC) among others.