A ruckus broke out at the Telangana state legislative assembly on Tuesday with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) accusing the state government of borrowing more than ₹1 lakh crore in past one year and state finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka alleging that the state was borrowing more only to repay the past debts.
Raising the issue during the question hour, senior BRS leader and former finance minister T Harish Rao said: “The Congress government had borrowed nearly ₹1.27 lakh crore, including both guaranteed and non-guaranteed loans.”
Giving a detailed breakdown, Harish Rao said: “The Congress government had borrowed ₹1.27 lakh crore, including ₹61,991 crore under corporate guarantees and ₹10,099 crore without guarantees as well as a ₹3,000 crore fresh loan obtained as on Tuesday.”
“If this trend continues, Telangana’s debt will surge to ₹6.36 lakh crore in the five-year term of the Congress government,” he warned.
He also dismissed Congress’s claim that ₹6.71 lakh crore was borrowed during the BRS regime, asserting the total was ₹4.17 lakh crore.
The state finance minister, however, denied the allegation saying the state government had borrowed only ₹52,000 crore and repaid ₹ 66,000 crore along with interest in 11 months to clear the loans taken during the previous BRS regime. While BRS leaders kept ₹40,000 crore bills pending, the Congress government cleared ₹14,000 crore so far, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The state finance minister, however, denied the allegation saying the state government had borrowed only ₹52,000 crore and repaid ₹ 66,000 crore along with interest in 11 months to clear the loans taken during the previous BRS regime. While BRS leaders kept ₹40,000 crore bills pending, the Congress government cleared ₹14,000 crore so far, he said.
{{/usCountry}}“We never borrowed beyond the limits fixed under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. In fact, our efforts are to reduce borrowings. The destruction of the economy that happened in the last 10 years cannot be set right in one year. So, we have to take loans to some extent,” he said.
Harish Rao, however, alleged that the Congress government was misleading the public on interest payments which was only ₹2,900 crore per month as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report. “Congress’s borrowing has not resulted in a single new project or a new scheme,” he added.
BJP MLA Maheshwar Reddy also questioned the state’s fiscal prudence, noting that loans had exceeded the FRBM limit of ₹57,000 crore for the current fiscal. He questioned the State government over plans to mortgage 400 acres of premium land to raise funds.
Earlier, the BRS submitted a letter to assembly speaker Gaddam Prasad seeking to move a privilege motion against Bhatti Vikramarka for presenting the state’s debt as ₹7 lakh crore.
Citing the latest RBI report that stated debt during the BRS regime was only ₹3.89 lakh crore, party working president KT Rama Rao alleged that the finance minister’s statements misled the assembly and people of Telangana.
“The state government should present the actual figures or the speaker should sanction permission for a debate over the privilege motion,” he demanded.