Telangana Deputy CM seeks Rs 5,000 cr extra central funds, FRBM relief for education push

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu met with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to seek additional central assistance for the state's development agenda, particularly its public education overhaul.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, seeking additional central assistance and fiscal relaxations to support the state's development agenda, particularly its ambitious overhaul of public education.

The deputy chief minister urged the finance minister to sanction an additional Rs 5,000 crore under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI), over and above the Rs 4,208 crore already allocated to Telangana for 2025-26.

He cited mounting fiscal pressure from debt servicing on loans raised through special purpose vehicles between 2014 and 2023 as a key constraint on the state's finances, the state government said in a statement.

The deputy chief minister also discussed Telangana's Rs 30,000 crore education transformation plan -- Rs 21,000 crore for 105 Young India Integrated Residential Schools (YIIRS) campuses and Rs 9,000 crore for junior colleges, degree colleges, technical institutions and digital infrastructure.

Vikramarka requested that loans tied to two externally-aided projects, a Rs 4,049 crore ADB-backed YIIRS initiative and a Rs 4,903 crore AIIB-funded education infrastructure mission, be excluded from the state's FRBM borrowing limits, arguing these were long-term capital investments, not routine expenditure, aimed primarily at SC, ST, BC and minority communities.

Later in the day, Vikramarka also called on Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy, pressing for support for Singareni Collieries Company Limited's coal gasification plans, allocation of Koyagudem Block-III, and expedited mining lease clearance for Tadicherla Coal Block-II under Section 5 of the MMDR Act.

Kishan Reddy responded positively, promising a joint meeting of central and state officials with Singareni representatives shortly, the statement added.