Hyderabad, July 3 (RAHNUMA): Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka strongly criticised BRS leaders Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao for levelling baseless allegations against the state’s financial condition.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Secretariat on Friday, Bhatti Vikramarka, accompanied by Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Adluri Laxman Kumar, accused the previous BRS government of pushing Telangana into a debt trap during its ten-year rule and said that the total debt incurred during the BRS government’s tenure amounts to ₹8,21,651 crore, challenging the opposition to deny these figures.
He questioned Harish Rao’s claim that the BRS government borrowed only ₹3 lakh crore, asking why such a huge amount had to be repaid through Reserve Bank transactions if that claim were true.
Bhatti Vikramarka further alleged that the BRS government borrowed from corporate banks at high interest rates of 10% to 10.5%, placing a heavy burden on the state. However, the present government has undertaken debt restructuring. As a result, the repayment burden for the period 2025–26 to 2031–32 has been reduced from ₹34,058 crore to ₹11,915 crore, resulting in estimated savings of ₹22,142 crore for the state.
The Deputy Chief Minister explained that the previous government concealed several liabilities by raising loans through corporations for projects such as Kaleshwaram and Mission Bhagiratha. At that time, it was claimed that these loans would be repaid by farmers or through tax revenues. However, Bhatti Vikramarka argued that the responsibility for repaying both the principal and interest ultimately falls on the state government using taxpayers’ money.
He accused the previous administration of misleading the public by not showing these liabilities as government debt.
The Deputy Chief Minister recalled that soon after assuming office, the present government released a White Paper on the state’s finances in the Assembly and said that within just two and a half years, the current government has repaid ₹2,08,681 crore, including both principal and interest, on loans taken by the previous government.
Bhatti Vikramarka condemned what he described as the false propaganda being spread by opposition leaders against Singareni Collieries.
“During the tenure of BRS government, did they secure even a single new coal block for Singareni? Did they at least obtain new mining blocks to replace those that had been exhausted and closed,”he asked.
Bhatti Vikramarka dismissed the BRS allegation that 40 lakh tonnes of coal had disappeared from Singareni, calling it completely baseless. He stated that Singareni’s monitoring systems are extremely robust and that not even one kilogram of coal can leave the mines illegally.
The Deputy Chief Minister further criticised the previous BRS government, stating that while it significantly expanded the Bhadradri and Yadadri Thermal Power Projects, it failed to secure the coal mines required to supply them. He asked why the government did not participate in the Centre’s coal block auctions to acquire mines for Singareni. Had Singareni obtained those coal blocks, the royalty revenue would have belonged to Telangana, he said.
Bhatti Vikramarka also criticised opposition leaders for allegedly spreading misinformation about welfare hostels and government welfare schemes.
He further stated that although the value was ₹1,142 crore in the allocation of procurement tenders for Gurukul institutions, the opposition had earlier alleged corruption worth ₹2,000 crore and later increased the allegation to ₹3,000 crore, accusing them of making inconsistent and baseless claims.
