Golden Telangana needs `153k cr - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: It is a mega dream that involves mega bucks. If Chief Minister KCR's vision for Telangana is to be quantified, it will translate into about Rs 1.53 lakh crore. The massive funds would be required to implement various projects in irrigation, power, agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

A major chunk of these funds will go towards the flagship programmes like Pranahitha ' Chevella, Palamuru Lift Irrigation project, Jurala-Pakala canal construction, additional generation of 6,000 MW of power, infrastructural facelift to Hyderabad and crop loan waiver to farmers.

These put together will account for nearly 90% of the fund requirement. Dreaming high for rapid development of the State, KCR made a series of announcements in the last three and half month period.

Apart from the capital-intensive project like Pranahitha-Chevella which requires Rs 40,000 crore if it does not get the national project status, KCR announced irrigation schemes like Juarala-Pakala canal and Palamuru Lift Irrigation projects which would need thousands of crores of investment.

Besides, he wants the energy department to add 6,000 MW of power to the State's existing generation capacity and this would cost Rs 24,000 crore, if the per megawatt cost is taken as Rs four crore.

The Chief Minister also envisaged a project 'Water Grid' which would interconnect all the rivulets, tanks and other water sources. This project would cost Rs 25,000 crore.

Recently, he announced renovation of 41,000 minor irrigation projects at a cost of Rs 50 lakhs each in the State and said that it would need Rs 20,000 crores over the next five years.

Besides, the crop loan waiver programme is expected to entail a burden of Rs 16,500 crores. Hyderabad Metro Waters Works and Sewerage Board has submitted a report to the government seeking Rs 28,000 crores for renovation of sewerage and drinking water system in the city. All these commitments add up to Rs 1.53 lakh crore over the next five years.

This means that the programmes announced by the Chief Minister would require about Rs 30,000 crores every year. This would be a Herculean task for the finance department.

The government budget is estimated at Rs 80,000 crore per year and if the Chief Minister's wish list is taken into consideration they would consume nearly 37.5 per cent of funds every year leaving meagre funds for other programmes.

It would be interesting to see how the Chief Minister would accommodate his programmes in the budgets and how he can mobilize funds from other sources.