The Telangana State government has proposed an amount of Rs 967 crore for the promotion of industries during the new financial year in the State Budget for 2016-17, which is 40 per cent more than the amount allocated for industries last year. The Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTAPCCI) has requested the government to allocate an additional Rs 500 crore in the interim appraisal, Anil Reddy Vennam, president, FTAPCCI, told Metro India on Monday.

“Out of Rs 600 crore allocated for industries this fiscal, 70-85 per cent have been already utilised and the rest may be used in these 15 days left in the year. We expected 100 per cent increase in allocations at Rs 1,200-Rs 1,500 crore for industries depending on the huge requirement to streamline incentives and subsides to various segments in this fiscal,” he said.

“After the government enacted the Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TS-iPASS) Act, over 100 companies have availed clearances in six phases, among which 32 units have already started functioning. Such an investor-friendly environment has been created in the State,” the FTAPCCI president said.

“Telangana government proposed an inclusive Budget for 2016-17 with emphasis on irrigation, health and education. The total Budget expenditure is Rs 1,30,415.87 crore out of which Plan expenditure is Rs 67,630.73 crore, while non-Plan expenditure is Rs 62,785.14 crore. For the first time in the history of Budget, the proposed expenditure under Plan is higher than non-Plan expenditure,” he said.

“The government has given more priority to the irrigation sector by allocating Rs 25,000 crore under Plan outlay in this Budget as compared to Rs 8,500 crore for irrigation in the current financial year. This will boost the agriculture sector and increase the spending power of rural people, which will lead to the growth of other sectors as a cascading effect,” he said.

Reddy further said, “Another important sector that has been considered in the Budget is medical and health care, where the government has allocated Rs 5,967 crore against Rs 4,932 crore this fiscal. We appreciate the government’s efforts to improve the medical facilities by setting up four more multi-speciality hospitals in Hyderabad keeping in view the increasing population.”

“The power generation capacity will reach 23,912 MW in next three years. The present generation capacity is around 5,900 MW (including renewable energy) and given this, the government has to add 6,000 MW additional capacity per year, which is not feasible. Revenue from taxes on sales and trade is estimated at Rs 42,073 crore, which is more than Rs 9,500 crore from 2015-16 and the common man may have to pay more taxes to realise such increase in revenue,” he added.