Union Budget: Telangana gets raw deal again

The Union Budget turned out to be a major disappointment for Telangana. None of the major requests from the State were accommodated in the Union Budget for fund allocation.

In her budget speech, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had nothing new to offer for the State except for the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor which was targeted to largely benefit the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.

Not surprisingly, Sitharaman showered gifts and special packages for Andhra Pradesh led by the BJP’s ally TDP including funds to fulfil the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. She said concerted efforts would be made to fulfil the commitments under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, but allocated specific funds only to Andhra Pradesh, ignoring Telangana’s needs.

“Rs



15,000 crore will be arranged in the current financial year to develop Andhra Pradesh’s capital. Grants for backward regions will be provided to three districts as per the AP Reorganisation Act,” she said, fulfilling the wishlist of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. She assured to grant more funds for the capital development in future.

The Union Finance Minister also declared that the Centre was fully committed to fund and complete the Polavaram project, terming it as crucial for food security. She also assured special assistance for development of industrial nodes along the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, besides infrastructure development for Orvakallu and Kopparthi industrial areas in Andhra Pradesh. However, she did not quantify on the amount of funds.