Greater Hyderabad gets a raw deal in Telangana state Budget

The Telangana State Budget presented in the State Assembly by Finance Minister Etela Rajender on Thursday brought in a raw deal for Greater Hyderabad. Major departments including GHMC, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, which hoped for a Lion’s share in the Budget, were in for a shock. While nearly 70 per cent of the State’s revenue is generated from Greater Hyderabad, the State government failed to make any substantial allocation for it in the Budget.

Rude shock
The GHMC had submitted proposals of Rs 1,663.52 crore, HMWS&SB of Rs 3,915 crore and HMDA of Rs 1,651 crore, totalling to Rs 7,228 crore, but the overall budget sanctioned was around Rs 2,000 crore.    
The civic body was not allocated any budget for major developmental works or projects, except for the dues they have to get from property tax from government properties (Rs 31.94 crore), taxes of professions, trade callings and employment (Rs 30.93 crore) and vehicle taxes (Rs 37 lakh).

The Water board, meanwhile, got Rs 1,420 crore, which includes Rs 670 crore as loans and another Rs 750 crore towards developmental works. The board had put its hope on the Budget as it had to carry out several important projects this year. They had submitted proposals worth Rs 3, 915 crore. HMDA too got a raw deal in the Budget as they had submitted proposals worth Rs 1,651 crore, but were allocated only Rs 485 crore, which included Rs 250 crore as loans for developmental activities and Rs 235 crore as loans for the Outer Ring Road.

The recently established Hyderabad Road Development Corporation Limited would receive grant in aid of Rs 566 crore for developing road in the city. The Musi River Front Development Corporation would also receive Rs 377 crore.
What they sought, and didn’t get

GHMC officials told Express that for new schemes under the non-plan grants, the corporation sought Rs 500 crore for improvement of roads in Greater Hyderabad and Rs 300 crore for the construction of stormwater drains, totalling to Rs 800 crore. Under the non-plan grant, the corporation had sought Rs 488.52 crore, which include property tax on government properties (Rs 102 crore), taxes on vehicles to GHMC (Rs 75 crore), Octroi to GHMC (Rs 1 crore), Professional Tax compensation (Rs 300 crore), property tax compensation (Rs 6 crore). 

The HMDA officials, meanwhile, said that Rs 1,651 crore was sought for 2018-19 to the state government. The Rs 915.16 crore was sought for ORR. The works in all the packages are completed but the money has to be released on annuity basis to the concessionaries amounting to Rs 332.58 crore per year. The Government has to release 14th and 15th annuities during the financial year 2017-18 for Rs 332.58 crore.

Similarly, the Water Board had sought Rs 3,915 crore in the Budget. The board had urged for special allocation for improving sewerage network in peripheral circles of Hyderabad, particularly in the 12 erstwhile municipalities. Another Rs 1,000 crore was sought for drainage upgradation and Rs 700 crore for construction of a new 10 tmcft reservoir at Keshavapuram to meet the increased demand in the city. Another Rs 750 crore was sought to repay loans borrowed from various agencies for the Krishna and Godavari Drinking Water Supply Projects. 

MMTS gets only Rs 50 crore allocation
The State government’s share towards phase two of the MMTS in Hyderabad is two-thirds of the estimated project cost of `817 crore. However, in the 2018-19 Budget allocation, only `50 crore has been allocated for the rail works. The Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, which is executing the project, had earlier requested the State to release its share of funds. While the RVNL had incurred `470 crore for the project in the last three years, the state government has so far shelled out only `60 cr.