Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Friday presented a Rs 3,24,234 crore budget for the financial year 2026-27 in the Telangana Assembly, proposing a significantly higher outlay than the previous year as the Congress government doubled down on its flagship welfare guarantees while also pushing ambitious infrastructure projects across the state.
The proposed budget is Rs 19,269 crore more than last year’s proposal of Rs 3,04,865 crore, though the revised estimate for 2025-26 came in considerably lower at Rs 2,81,238 crore. Of the total expenditure, revenue expenditure accounts for Rs 2,34,406 crore and capital expenditure for Rs 47,267 crore.
Six guarantees get Rs 50,713 crore
The centrepiece of the budget is the allocation for the Congress government’s six guarantees, for which Bhatti has set aside Rs 50,713 crore. The lion’s share goes to Rythu Bharosa, the crop input financial assistance scheme for farmers, which has been allocated Rs 18,000 crore. The Cheyutha welfare pension scheme follows with Rs 14,861 crore.
The remaining allocations are spread across the other guarantees – Rs 5,500 crore for Indiramma houses, Rs 4,305 crore for the Mahalakshmi Scheme, which provides free bus rides for women; Rs 3,500 crore as a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal for fine grain paddy, Rs 2,080 crore for the Gruha Jyothi scheme offering 200 units of free power; Rs 1,143 crore for Rajiv Arogya Sri, Rs 723 crore for the LPG subsidy of Rs 500 per gas cylinder under Mahalakshmi and Rs 600 crore for Indiramma Aatmeeya Bharosa, which provides Rs 12,000 per year to landless agricultural workers.
Musi riverfront, Metro Rail
The state government has earmarked Rs 1,500 crore this year for the Musi Riverfront Development Project, one of its most ambitious undertakings. The first phase of the project, which covers a 21-km stretch of the Musi river from Osmansagar to Bapughat and Himayatsagar to Bapughat, has been estimated to cost between Rs 6,500 and Rs 7,000 crore in total.
On the Metro Rail front, Rs 600 crore has been proposed for Phase 2 of the project, with an additional Rs 500 crore earmarked as loans to Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL). Bhatti also said that works worth Rs 43,692 crore have been sanctioned for the development of Hyderabad and its surrounding areas, of which works worth Rs 24,752 crore have already commenced.
The Municipal Administration and Urban Development department has been allocated Rs 17,907 crore, with Rs 7,458 crore for establishment and Rs 10,450 crore for schemes.
Education
The Finance Minister has proposed Rs 26,674 crore for education, which includes Rs 5,000 crore for Young India Integrated Residential Schools and Rs 500 crore for Telangana Public Schools. Infrastructure allocations include Rs 1,000 crore for Osmania University and Rs 400 crore for the Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women’s University. Rs 508 crore has also been proposed for SC residential schools, excluding salaries and diet charges.
On welfare, the government announced it would extend the mid-day meal scheme to all students in government junior colleges, in addition to launching a breakfast scheme covering students from pre-primary through intermediate level in government schools.
Under the scheme, students will receive milk on three days a week and ragi malt on the remaining three. A budget of Rs 720 crore has been set aside for this. A further Rs 100 crore has been proposed for the modernisation of kitchens in hostels and government educational institutions.
The government also plans to launch pre-primary sections in 2,000 to 2,500 government schools this year, building on the 1,362 schools where they were introduced last year. Polytechnic students training at Advanced Technology Centres will receive a monthly scholarship of Rs 2,000, and retrofitted motorised vehicles will be distributed to students with disabilities pursuing intermediate education.
Health
The Medical and Health department has been allocated Rs 13,679 crore, split between Rs 6,984 crore for establishment and Rs 6,695 crore for schemes. The state is currently constructing 17 new government medical colleges, in addition to the nine medical colleges, 16 nursing colleges and 28 paramedical colleges already underway. The state government is also implementing a public health profile system across the state.
Once the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) hospitals at Sanathnagar, LB Nagar and Alwal are completed, alongside the expansion of the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences and the Warangal Multi-Speciality Hospital, 6,582 tertiary care beds will be added, taking the state’s total tertiary care bed count in government hospitals to 44,029.
Welfare of SC, ST, BC and minorities
The budget proposes Rs 11,784 crore for Scheduled Castes (SC), Rs 12,511 crore for Backward Classes (BC) and Rs 7,937 crore for Scheduled Tribes (ST). An additional Rs 400 crore has been set aside for the Most Backward Classes Development Corporation.
Bhatti noted that the unspent amount under the SC and ST Sub-Plan Act stood at Rs 14,934 crore combined, and that these arrears were allocated in addition to regular budget provisions in 2025-26. Carried-forward amounts of Rs 7,757 crore for SCs and Rs 1,754 crore for STs from the 2024-25 budget will also be allocated in the coming financial year.
Rs 6,000 crore has been proposed for the Rajiv Yuva Vikasam scheme, aimed at SCs, STs, BCs, minorities and Other Castes (OC). Of this, Rs 200 crore will go towards retrofitting autorickshaws within the Outer Ring Road with electrical fitment.
Minorities’ welfare has been allocated Rs 3,769 crore, split between Rs 875 crore for establishment and Rs 2,893 crore for schemes. This is up from the Rs 3,591 crore proposed last year, though the revised estimate for 2025-26 had settled at a significantly lower Rs 2,544 crore, and the revised estimate for 2024-25 stood at Rs 2,004 crore.
Bhatti highlighted that 10,000 sewing machines were distributed to poor women from minority communities and skill development training was provided to 4,655 minority youth during the year.
Agriculture and irrigation
Agriculture, identified as a priority sector, has been proposed an outlay of Rs 23,179 crore, the bulk of which – Rs 18,000 crore – is accounted for by the Rythu Bharosa scheme. Irrigation has been allocated Rs 22,615 crore.
The Finance Minister announced that the government would take up the Dr BR Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Project in the erstwhile Adilabad district, describing it as a correction of a “historic mistake committed by the previous government.”
He also outlined a long list of ongoing irrigation projects the state intends to complete, including the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Jawahar Nettempadu Lift Irrigation Scheme, Rajiv Bheema Lift Irrigation Scheme, Makthal-Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation Scheme, Elimineti Madhava Reddy Srisailam Left Bank Canal Project, Udayasamudram, Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme, Mahatma Gandhi MBC Lift Irrigation Scheme, Janpadu Lift Irrigation Scheme, Mothe Lift Irrigation Scheme, J Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme, Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme, Chinna Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, Gouravelli Project, Errupalem Jawaharlal Lift Irrigation Project, Triveni Sangamam, Pulimadugu Vagu, Kumaram Bheem Vagu, Chikmanu Vagu, Ammavari Madagascar in Kerameri mandal, Lendiguda–Jainoor and Rosy Malta Mini Reservoir, among others.
Roads, housing and other proposals
On infrastructure, Bhatti announced that 7,450 km of rural roads across 96 Assembly constituencies will be constructed under the Hybrid Annuity Model in the first phase, with the state bearing 40 per cent of the cost and the concessionaire funding the remaining 60 per cent. In the current financial year, 2,980 km of roads are proposed to be built, requiring Rs 1,372 crore.
The Housing Department has been allocated Rs 7,430 crore. Of the Rs 22,500 crore estimated cost of the Indiramma houses scheme, Rs 5,073 crore has already been spent.The budget also proposes Rs 440 crore for temple development and Rs 500 crore for the Godavari Pushkaralu, scheduled to be held from June 26 to July 7, 2027. Tourism has been allocated Rs 1,224 crore, which includes Rs 875 crore for creating and upgrading tourism infrastructure, including eco-tourism development in the Kawal and Amrabad Tiger Reserves.
| Posted by Vivek Bhoomi | 
