Telangana budget will focus on six guarantees

Hyderabad: With changing priorities, it is possible that Telangana’s last budget for 2024-25 will focus on the Congress government’s six guarantees and other new development projects. Although preparations are in full swing to present the full budget in the Assembly next month, officials have not ruled out the possibility of voting on the budget once the Lok Sabha election calendar is announced. For the current financial year 2023-24, the previous BRS government had presented a huge budget of Rs 2.9 lakh crore in February last year. Sources in the finance department said that although they were receiving proposals from all interested departments, it is possible that the state budget for 2024-25 will be higher than the previous financial exercise. The Finance Department has started the process of preparing the budget for the financial year 2024-25. He has invited proposals from all departments and asked interested Heads of Departments (HODs) to submit them online before January 11 to facilitate coordination and fluid absorption of changes as per the priorities of the new government. Defense chiefs also received instructions to provide details of cadre posts and existing employees in the prescribed format. Additionally, they were asked to provide details about the new employees joining this year and the revised estimates for the current financial year, as part of the budgetary exercise. The government has clarified that there will be no increase in the budget amount in the revised estimates. He issued strict instructions to focus on increasing revenue and stopping leakages. They will establish specific objectives, detail the imports made in operating expenses and plan expenses for the next financial exercise. The proposals should be in line with the changing priorities of the state government. The Finance Department reaffirmed the need to submit accurate and fact-based proposals for any new scheme, including launch dates and estimated disbursements of the proposals. Public works departments received instructions to submit scheme payments and details online, guaranteeing accuracy and compliance with actual requirements. With regard to these schemes, the Finance Department suggested presentation of annual expenditure, number of beneficiaries and relevant data since the formation of Telangana State. They encourage the use of Central Government sponsored schemes, and proposals should consider their linkage with State schemes including departmental subsidies for optimum utilization of funds. The Finance Department also sought details of all loans obtained by government departments, corporations and vehicles for special purposes. All departments were instructed to submit details of all banking accounts and assets. He warned that non-compliance with transparency norms would be viewed seriously.