Directorate of Economics and Statistics recently released the report on Telangana Economy, with details on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Gross District Domestic Product, Per Capita Income and other economic parameters of the State.
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There is wide disparity among the districts in Telangana in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and Per Capita Income (PCI).

Per Capita Income

A comparison of the Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) and PCI reveals the sharp differences among the districts in the two vital economic parameters pertaining to their financial health. Rangareddy district has the highest PCI of ₹9.46 lakh at current prices when compared with ₹1.8 lakh of Vikarabad. Hyderabad district has the next highest PCI of ₹4.94 lakh and Sangareddy ₹3.22 lakh while per capita income of all other districts is ranging between ₹1.8 lakh to ₹2.9 lakh.

GDDP

In terms of GDDP too, Rangareddy is at the top with ₹2.83 lakh crore as compared with Mulugu district which has GDDP of ₹6,914 crore. Except for Hyderabad (₹2.28 lakh crore) and Medchal-Malkajgiri (₹88,867 crore), the GDDP of all other districts is below ₹61,000 crore.

GSDP

These figures are revealed in the provisional estimates of 2023-24 of the State’s economy released by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics recently. According to the report, the GSDP of the State increased from ₹13.11 lakh crore in 2022-23 to ₹15.01 lakh crore in 2023-24 (preliminary estimates).

The economic growth rate however is estimated to decline from 16.7% to 14.5% during the period. Telangana is better placed in economic growth rate as compared with the national GDP growth which is expected to decline from 14.2% to 9.6%. “The decline in growth rate at the national level is much sharper than that in Telangana. In comparison to India GDP growth rate, Telangana State growth rate is higher by 4.9 points,” the report said.

The same is the case with PCI which is estimated at ₹3.56 lakh in 2023-24 as against ₹3.12 lakh in the previous year. The growth rate however reflected a decrease from 16.2% in 2022-23 to 14.1% in 2023-24. The national PCI during the same period is expected to increase from ₹1.69 lakh to ₹1.84 lakh, but the decline in growth rate reflected a sharp decline from 12.3% in 2022-23 to 8.7% in 2023-24.

The logo of the Reserve Bank of India. File
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The Telangana Government has decided to raise ₹16,000 crore through market borrowings in the first quarter of the upcoming financial year 2024-25.

The Government has submitted an indent for raising the amounts through the auction of securities during the April-June quarter. It has decided to raise ₹5,000 crore in April in three tranches, ₹1,000 crore on April 2 and ₹2,000 crore each on April 8 and 23 during the auctions to be conducted by the Apex Bank.

The Government proposed to raise ₹6,000 crore in May and ₹2,000 crore each during the auctions on May 7, 14 and 28.

According to the tentative calendar of market borrowings released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Telangana Government will raise ₹5,000 crore in June — ₹1,000 crore on June 4 and ₹2,000 crore each on June 11 and 25.

The actual amount of borrowings and the details of the States/Union Territories participating would be intimated two to three days before the actual auction day and would depend on the requirement of the State Governments/Union Territories as well as approval from the Union Government under Article 293(3) of the Constitution and market conditions, the RBI said.

It may be recalled that the previous government headed by the Bharat Rashtra Samiti faced restrictions on borrowings from the first quarter of the previous financial year with the Union Finance Ministry limiting their quantum citing financial management issues and over borrowings by the then Government. The restrictions continued till the Congress came to power in the December elections.

But Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his Deputy Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in January and explained the State’s financial situation. They convinced the Centre to allow additional borrowings so that the State could meet its immediate requirements besides taking steps to stabilise finances.

The Centre had accordingly permitted the State to go for additional borrowings and Telangana raised market borrowings of over ₹10,000 crore in the past couple of months. It has to be seen whether the Centre would permit the State to raise the borrowings as indicated or whether it would impose restrictions similar to those during the BRS Government in the coming days.