Telangana continues to be India’s pillar of strength: KT Rama Rao

HYDERABAD: IN an apparent reply to the BJP’s claim that the Centre has been coming to the aid of the State in all aspects, TRS working president and IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said that it has, in fact, been the other way round.

In a tweet on Sunday, the TRS leader said that since the formation of Telangana in 2014, its contribution to the nation’s exchequer so far was a whopping `272,926 crore, whereas what it has received from the Centre was a mere `140,329 crore. “Telangana continues to be a pillar of strength for India,” he said.

Rama Rao’s statement assumes political significance in the wake of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s assertion on Saturday that he was ready to lay down office if the BJP leaders could prove that the Centre was bearing the lion’s share of Aasara pensions doled out by the State government to 38.64 lakh people every month at the rate of `2,016 each. The Chief Minister made the comment ahead of the Dubbaka byelection slated for November 3.

The TRS working president claimed that the growth in GSDP and per capita income was achieved with investments in key infra sectors and increased capital expenditure. At the same time, fiscal prudence was balanced. He said that Telangana was among the top five States with low debt-GSDP ratio.

The Minister added that Telangana’s growth has been inclusive and has focused on agriculture, industry and service sectors to improve per capita income. “While the growth of per capita income of our country between 2014 and 2020 was at 54.9 per cent, that of Telangana is a whopping 83.9 per cent,” he said.

He maintained that Telangana has consistently been achieving much higher GDP growth rate than the country’s average growth rate for the past six years. Able leadership, progressive policies and an ear to the ground policy had enabled the State to thrive, Rama Rao said.