Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao seeks Rs 12,000 crore from finance panel

HYDERABAD: Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has urged the 15th Finance Commission to allot an additional Rs 12,000 crore to Telangana this year. He said the state would badly require the funds to complete Kaleshwaram irrigation project and Mission Bhagiratha.
In a two-page letter, the chief minister said Telangana has taken up irrigation and infrastructure projects under a mission mode and urged the Finance Commission to allot funds liberally.“Since Telangana and Gujarat have begun implementing the scheme of providing drinking water to every household, we asked the commission to allot funds. The Finance Commission has responded positively,” said finance minister T Harish Rao, who submitted the chief minister’s letter during the commission’s interaction with various states in Delhi on Tuesday.

The chief minister also reminded Finance Commission chairman NK Singh how he had lauded the efforts of Telangana in the irrigation and infrastructure sectors. “The geographical terrain of Telangana is such that major rivers like Krishna and Godavari flow deep below ground level. Therefore, irrigation is possible only with multi-stage lift irrigation schemes, which require large-scale capital investments,” he said in the letter.
KCR said Telangana had made Mission Kakatiya operational within a short period by investing Rs 80,000 crore. He said Telangana needs a substantial investment of Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the irrigation sector and recalled how Mission Bhagiratha is being lauded by other states.
The operational and maintenance cost of lift irrigation projects is pegged at Rs 40,168 crore and for Mission Bhagiratha, it is Rs 12,772 crore. KCR said the Finance Commission should consider allocating funds so that state could complete works.
Meanwhile, Harish said that when they asked the Finance Commission to hold its regional conference in Hyderabad, Singh had agreed immediately.