Telangana cuts its Non-Plan expenditure in Budget

Telangana Finance Minister Etala Rajender on Monday unveiled State Budget 2016-17 with an outlay of Rs.1.30 lakh crore and a fiscal deficit of 3.5 per cent.

Of the proposed Rs.1,30.415.87 crore expenditure, non-plan portion will be Rs.62,785.14 crore and Plan spending Rs.67,630.73 crore. While the outlay is better compared to the Rs.1.15 lakh crore for 2015-16, it is less in the context of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh 2016-17 budget outlay of Rs.1.35 lakh crore. (In 2015-16, the total outlay of Andhra Pradesh was Rs.1.13 lakh crore).

This was not, however, totally unexpected as for sometime the two Telugu speaking States seem to have realised the importance of giving up the game of one upmanship.

Presenting the Budget, in a speech lasting over a hour, the Finance Minister declared that the Budget was "unprecedented as the proposed Plan



expenditure is higher than that under Non-Plan. This has been done without compromising on non-plan commitments by a combination of rationalisation of expenditure and resource augmentation," he explained.

The borrowings under the FRBM legislation are likely to be a little higher in 2016-17, he said, adding that the Budget estimates indicate a revenue deficit of Rs.3,718.37 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs.23,467.29 crore. "The higher revenue surplus is entirely on account of the proposed allocation of Rs.25,000 crore to the irrigation sector, which is mostly capital."

Mr.Rajender said that as compared with the Plan expenditure of the combined State, the proposed plan expenditure in Telangana for 2016-17 is higher. This is a record. Cutting down wasteful expenditure, revenue augmentation and enhancing allocations for welfare are our goals."