Revanth Reddy targets BRS, says past budgets driven by lies

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took potshots at the BRS and said that his Government has presented a real budget but not a false budget unlike the previous Government. Speaking after the Congress Government presented its first budget in Telangana Assembly, Revanth said, "This budget is Rs 70,000 crore less than the previous budget which is a 23 per cent reduction. In the past, budgets were driven by lies. We thought we should tell the truth on the first day. In the past, Rs 16,000 crore of debt was incurred in irrigation. We will cancel failed tenders and loan waivers for farmers who are not into agriculture anymore for which negotiations are on with the banks."

He added that Arogyasri schemes were being planned independently of ration cards.

The Chief Minister also said that his Government would review if there were any irregularities in the construction of the Secretariat, Amarula Jyoti (martyrs memorial) and the Ambedkar statue in Hyderabad. "An inquiry will be conducted on their structures, estimates, payment and expenses," he said.

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He also made it clear that he would order an inquiry into the irregularities in the Medigadda project and take the Congress as well as opposition party MLAs to the project.

Meanwhile, finance secretary Ramakrishna Rao has said that there was an opportunity for the State to borrow as Rs 12,000 crore would be repaid and that the borrowing capacity would correspondingly increase.

"If the six guarantees have to be implemented, we have to bring in income from outside. There is scope for income even if the growth rate is reduced. For the first time in the last ten years, the growth rate has decreased. We have set the budget for vote-on- account for four months. There will once again be a full budget in July," he said.

IT Minister Sridhar Babu, reacting to the budget, said, "The last budget was hiked Rs 75,000 crore. We have actually presented a real budget. Budget from the Centre was utilised properly by the BRS Government. Infact, PM Awaz Yojana funds remain unutilised. We use the funds from the Centre. There will be contracts worth Rs 40,000 crore. MSME sector will be a game changer and it can create jobs. Artificial Intellience (AI) is the future and we are going to put it into practice. There will be a global summit for the implementation of AI."