Telangana Betters Revenue Collection, Lags in Fiscal Deficit

Hyderabad: Telangana’s revenue gap narrowed even as the fiscal deficit widened, according to the latest Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for October on Thursday. Official sources in the finance department attributed the rising fiscal deficit to high government debts aimed at bridging the gap between expenditure commitments and revenue inflows.

The state’s revenue deficit narrowed to ₹ 10,113.37 crore in October from ₹ 112,452.89 crore in September 2025. In contrast, the fiscal deficit increased sharply from ₹ 45,139.12 crore to ₹ 50,541.22 crore during the same period. Loans taken by the government increased, matching the fiscal deficit figures; this reflects greater dependence on external borrowing.

In the seven-month period from April to October, the state realized 50.95 per cent (₹ 1,45,124.52 crore) of the total budget revenues of ₹ 2,84,837.29 crore, while 50.83 per cent (₹ 1,33,920.93 crore) of the total expenditure target of ₹ 2,63,486.74 crore was realized. I met. With just five months left in the fiscal year, the government needs to mobilize almost half of both revenues and expenditure targets to stay in line with budget estimates, official sources said.

Revenue receipts reached ₹94,555.97 crore, accounting for 41.16 per cent of the budget estimate of ₹2,29,720.62 crore; this was slightly higher than the 41.06 per cent achieved in the corresponding period of 2024-25. However, stamp and registration collections and state special consumption taxes showed a downward trend compared to last year.

GST collections remained strong at ₹30,569.02 crore, reaching 51.20 per cent of the budget target of ₹59,704.59 crore; this was slightly above the 50.39 per cent realized in 2024-25. This shows that the GST 2.0 reforms did not adversely affect revenue inflows in the first full month, officials said.

Collections from stamps and registrations stood at ₹8,606.43 crore; this represents 45.09 per cent of the target of ₹19,087.26 crore; This rate is slightly lower than the 45.86 percent rate recorded last year. State excise collections totaled ₹13,296.75 crore, reaching 48.14 per cent of the estimated ₹27,623.36 crore, compared to 42.63 per cent in the previous fiscal.

Borrowings have already reached 93.58 per cent of the full-year projection of ₹ 54,009.74 crore; the state provided a loan of ₹ 50,541.22 crore by October; This is significantly higher than the 71.30 per cent utilization recorded during the same period in 2024-25. Spending obligations continued to increase; ₹16,529.88 crore was spent on interest payments, ₹27,633.13 crore on salaries and wages, ₹10,853.72 crore on pensions and ₹9,446.95 crore on subsidies.