Hyderabad, March 20 Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said the budget presented in the Legislative Assembly on Friday is a "forward-looking" budget that gives equal importance to welfare schemes and development programs.
In an informal interaction with journalists here, he said the budget is aimed at achieving the state government's 'Telangana Rising 2047' vision.
The life insurance scheme announced in the budget for all 1.15 crore families in the state is the first of its kind in the country, he said.
The loans taken by the Congress government since it assumed office in December 2023, were Rs 3.47 lakh crore, of which Rs 3.30 lakh crore was paid as repayment of debt made by the previous BRS government and the interest on it, he said.
To increase its revenues, the state government is making efforts to plug leakages in various government departments, he said.
The government is also ensuring that it receives all the funds due from the Centre, Reddy said.
He further said that the government would make changes in the education system in the state in line with the National Education Policy.
The Telangana government on Friday presented a budget of Rs 3.24 lakh crore for the year 2026-27, which is nearly Rs 20,000 crore more than the previous year, prioritizing its flagship programs such as the beautification of the Musi Riverfront and the Hyderabad Metrorail Phase 2 and 3, in addition to fulfilling election promises.
Meanwhile, the opposition BRS and BJP alleged that the budget is a "false" and "failed" exercise that has let down all sections of society.
BRS MLA and former finance minister T Harish Rao alleged that although the budget increased by Rs 20,000 crore in size, it made no allocations to the six poll "guarantees" of the Congress.
Claiming that the allocations made in the previous budget have not been spent, he said Rs 6,000 crore was announced for the 'Rajiv Yuva Vikasam' scheme in the previous budget, which is repeated in the present budget.
There has been no increase in social security pensions as promised, and the budget provided no relief to various sections of society, including retired employees, workers of state-run RTC and Singareni Collieries, Backward Classes, SCs and STs.
State BJP president N Ramchander Rao said the budget fails to fulfill the "six poll guarantees and 420 promises" of the ruling Congress.
The budget only makes false claims, failures and "attractive lies," but provides no relief to people, he said.