Kicking-off the budget session of the Telangana State Legislature, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Monday that Telangana's anticipated GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) is likely to be Rs 9,78,373 crore by the end of FY 2020-21. In her customary address to the joint sitting of the state legislature, she said, "According to the present assessment, the anticipated per-capita income and GSDP by the end of 2020-21 Financial Year would likely be Rs 2,27,145 and Rs 9,78,373 crores respectively."
The Telangana budget for 2021-22 would be presented in the state assembly on March 18. The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the assembly decided that the budget session, which began on Monday, would be held till March 26 with 10 working days.
Observing that the state has been increasing its revenue resources with strict fiscal discipline, Soundararajan said the state had increased its revenues and stood first in the country with 17.24 % average annual growth rate, from 2014 (when the state was formed) to 2019.
The state's GSDP was Rs 4,51,580 crore in 2013-14 and it increased by 114.71 per cent to reach Rs 9,69,604 crore by 2019-20, she said.
In 2013-14, the per capita income in Telangana was Rs 1,12,162 and by 2019-20, it was Rs 2,28,216, she said.
The governor said Rs 54,052 crore was spent in Telangana as capital expenditure from 2004 to 2014, while Rs 2.30 lakh crore was spent as capital expenditure from 2014-20 from both budget and non-budget funds.
Telangana is among the top five states in the country, with the best performance in increasing its own resources, taking loans within the limits of FRBM (fiscal responsibility and budget management), to increase the capital expenditure, she said.
"This was mentioned in 'State of State Finances report' which was recently released by the PRS Legislative Research.This is an ample proof of the state's financial prudence and fiscal discipline," Soundararajan said.
Noting that the"economic recession" all over the country in FY 2019-20, coupled with COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21, has had an adverse impact on the state finances, she said the state government, however, implemented strategies to face every challenging situation and ensured that the state economy had not slipped out of hands.
It was a proud moment for the state when the economic survey 2020-21 presented in Parliament declared that Telangana was one of the few states that could recover economically faster from the financial crisis created by the pandemic, the governor said.
On COVID-19, she said the state is doing much better in managing the pandemic in comparison with the national averages vis-a-vis deaths and recoveries.
The COVID-19 vaccination programme is being conducted successfully in the state and the government has made necessary arrangements with the aim of vaccinating 50 lakh people, she added.
Soundararajan spoke at length on the various development and welfare programmes of the state government.
Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy, Legislative Affairs Minister Vemula Prashant Reddy, Finance Minister T Harish Rao, AIMIM MLA Ahmed Pasha Quadri, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and others attended the BAC meeting.
BJP MLA M Raghunandan Rao took exception to his party not being invited to the meeting, saying it was 'painful' that the state government was citing "lack of strength" of the party.
"BJP was invited to the BAC meeting of the Legislative Assembly during undivided Andhra Pradesh though the party had two MLAs... It is clear that the TRS government is continuing opportunistic politics," he told reporters. He said his party, which has two members in the present assembly, would lodge its protest with the Speaker on Tuesday.