Bhatti presents welfare oriented 2026-27 budget for Telangana with emphasis on urban and rural development

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka presented a welfare-focused budget for the financial year 2026-27 with emphasis on both urban and rural development in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, March 20, 2026.

₹26,674 crore for education department

The Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department, which has implemented a number of programs including MGNREGS and HAM avenues, received allocation of ₹ 33,688 crore and the Education department received a high allocation of ₹ 26,674 crore. As announced by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy about completion of all pending irrigation projects within stipulated time, ₹ 22,615 crore has been released to the Irrigation sector.

₹17,907 crore for MAUD

The Municipal Administration and Urban Development department was given ₹17,907 crore. This department manages agencies like HMDA and HYDRAA and is the nodal point of ambitious projects like Hyderabad Metro Rail and the Prime Minister’s pet project, Musi Rejuvenation. ₹11,907 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

While starting his speech, which lasted more than an hour, the Deputy Prime Minister said, “The budget is not just about calculations and numbers, it is about people. The budget is the accounting of measures that can change people’s living conditions.” He said the Congress government had rectified the financial and systemic devastation caused by the previous government even as it continued to pay old debts and their interest by maintaining fiscal discipline.

Explaining the state’s financial situation, he said that the GSDP at current prices is ₹ 17.82 lakh crore, registering a growth rate of 10.7% over the previous year. The country’s GDP stood at ₹357 lakh crore with a growth rate of 8% during the same period. “Telangana’s growth rate is 2.7% above the national average,” he noted. Similarly, the State accounts for 5% of the national GDP, making it a strong growth engine for the country.

He said that although the country’s growth has slowed down, Telangana’s growth rate has shown improvement. The national GDP growth rate has fallen from 9.8% in 2024-25 to 8% in the current fiscal. However, Telangana recorded marginally higher growth from 10.6% to 10.7% in the same period. “This is proof that the policies implemented by our government are moving in the right direction and contributing to development,” he said.

income per capita

On per capita income, he said the State’s per capita income is ₹ 4.18 lakh while the national per capita income is ₹ 2.19 lakh, compared to Telangana’s per capita income of ₹ 1.96 lakh, i.e. 1.9 times the national average.

The Minister lamented that the previous government did not utilize the Centrally Sponsored Schemes properly between 2014-23 and even the funds approved by the Center were diverted to other needs, leading to withholding of funds by the Centre. The Congress government recognized the situation and released around ₹3,000 crore to all departments under the pending funds of CSS. This has resulted in the State securing ₹ 7,072 crore from the Center so far this financial year.

Restructuring reduces loans to ₹11,915 crore

At the same time, the State restructured loans amounting to ₹ 25,612 crore provided by the previous government at high interest rates on low-interest loans and the principal repayment maturity was extended. As a result, the amount payable from 2025-26 to 2031-32 has been reduced from 34,058 crore to 11,915 crore. “We have converted high-interest loans amounting to around 27.988 billion rupees into low-interest loans this fiscal year,” he said.