The Revanth Reddy government has created a new record by borrowing Rs. 10,392 crore in July this year. This marks the highest debt the state has incurred in a single month over the past decade, as reported by the state government to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Despite Revanth Reddy’s administration accusing the previous BRS government of burdening the state with debt, these latest figures point to an alarming increase in borrowing. It is reported that the Congress government has accumulated around Rs. 76,000 crore debts in the last nine months.
In July, the state’s total income stood at Rs. 10,226.46 crore from taxes, Rs. 257 crore from non-tax revenue, and Rs. 3.62 crore from loan recoveries. However, the government’s debt for the same month exceeded this income by Rs. 141.13 crore. This points to a significant shortfall in revenue, which contrasts sharply with the state’s earnings in previous months—Rs. 11,821 crore in April, Rs. 11,332 crore in May, and Rs. 12,465 crore in June. The state’s income in July was Rs. 2,239 crore less than June’s total and Rs. 1,091 crore lower than the revenue earned in the same period last year.
During the 10-year rule of the BRS, the highest monthly borrowing was Rs. 9,897 crore in December 2020, a time when the global economy was crippled by the COVID pandemic and the KCR government had to sustain welfare programs. In contrast, the Revanth Reddy government has borrowed over Rs. 10,000 crore in a single month, despite no similar crisis or new schemes justifying the loan.
According to the current budget, the state government plans to borrow Rs. 69,012 crore this financial year—Rs. 57,112 crore from the open market, Rs. 3,900 crore from the central government, and Rs. 1,000 crore from other loans. Of this, Rs. 31,000 crore has already been raised in the first five months through bond auctions, amounting to over half the annual target. Economic experts are concerned that the government will continue to add more debt in the remaining months, further straining the state’s finances.
Additionally, the government recently took loans of Rs. 2,500 crore and Rs. 1,500 crore from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), bringing the total loans from the RBI in the last nine months to Rs. 46,118 crore. This trend raises concerns about the mounting debt burden on Telangana’s people.