Hyderabad: The Telangana state government is confident of raising nearly Rs 1 lakh crore this year through taxes and loans.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday stated that the government would raise Rs 96,000 crore through taxes, other revenues and the FRBM Act provisions. Though he did not explicitly say that taxes would be hiked, he said another Rs 19,000 crore would have to be raised. He also said power tariff hikes were inevitable in the state.

Mr Rao was replying to queries raised by the Opposition on the Budget and government revenues. He said the government had raised Rs 60,000 crore in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

“We got Rs 60,000 crore and spent the amount. This was despite the 40 per cent cuts in Central schemes because of which we lost nearly Rs 28,000 crore. No state got any funds,” he said.



He said the government would raise Rs 96,000 crore through State Owned Tax Revenues (SOTR), State Owned Revenues (SOR), devolution from Centre and FRBM Act provisions. “There will still be Rs 19,000 crore that will have to be raised. That money can also be generated. About Rs 4,000 crore is stuck in commercial tax litigations. If we hire good lawyers and fight the cases, we will get the money,” Mr Rao said.

He also hinted at regularisation of encroached assigned lands in the capital. “In Hyderabad, assigned lands extending to 10,000 acre are present and encroached. They were not part of the regularisation process taken up earlier. Vulnerable parcels of state land can also be sold. We are mapping our resources,” he said.

Finance minister Etela Rajender expressed confidence that 85 to 90 per cent of the SOTR targets of Rs 46,495 crore would be reached in the coming fiscal year.

The CM said investments in power and water projects in TS totalled Rs 92,000 crore, but that had not been shown in the budget.

However, Mr Rao didn’t explicitly reply to a question by Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy whether taxes would be hiked. Mr Reddy predicted that the government could not spend more than Rs 30,000 crore of the Rs 52,000-crore plan Budget in the upcoming fiscal year for lack of funds.

"The total power production investment in the state is Rs 79,000 crore including NTPC projects. For the Water Grid, Hudco and Nabard have extended Rs 10,000 crore loans. But these are not reflected in the budget," he said.

However, Mr Rao didn't explicitly reply to a question by Leader of Opposition K. Jana Reddy on whether taxes in the state would be hiked. Mr Jana Reddy predicted that the government could not spend more than Rs 30,000 crore of the Rs 52,000-crore Plan Budget in the upcoming fiscal year for lack of funds.

Mr Rao also said power tariff hikes were inevitable in the state. "Power tariff hikes will be there. Can we do without raising tariffs? It is not possible. We are yet to get the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) report," he said.

Mr Rao also said that the government had never said that all Dalits in the state would be given three-acre land under the Dalit land scheme. "In the Dalit land scheme, we never committed that we would give land to everyone in the state. We are only saying that we will try as much as possible and give to as many families as possible. You too should help us in doing that," he said.