Telangana Revenue Receipts Miss Budget Targets for Three Years, RBI Report Shows

The Telangana State Government has consistently lagged behind its projected budget revenue receipts over three consecutive financial years from 2022 to 2025, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India. The figures were highlighted in an RBI report outlining recommendations on increasing the Ways and Means Advances limit for States.

According to the central bank's report, Telangana recorded revenue receipts of ₹1.59 lakh crore in the 2022-23 financial year, ₹1.69 lakh crore in 2023-24, and ₹1.67 lakh crore in 2024-25. In each of these three fiscal years, the actual collections fell significantly short of the targets presented in the State Government's initial budget estimates.

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the State had projected revenue receipts of ₹1.93 lakh crore, but actual realisations stood at ₹1.59 lakh crore, creating a shortfall of ₹34,000 crore. The gap widened in 2023-24, when the government anticipated receipts of ₹2.16 lakh crore against actual collections of ₹1.69 lakh crore. In 2024-25, the State reported receipts of ₹1.67 lakh crore against a budgeted projection of ₹2.21 lakh crore.

An overview of the budget figures indicates that collections under specific revenue heads fell far below targets, driving the mismatch between projections and actuals. A primary driver of the deficit was the Grants-in-Aid and Contributions head, which covers assistance, donations, or contributions used to bridge resource gaps, fund operational or capital expenditures, and address regional disparities in a multi-tiered governance framework.

For Grants-in-Aid and Contributions, the State Government projected receipts of ₹41,002 crore in 2022-23, but realised only ₹13,179 crore. In 2023-24, actual receipts under this head dropped to ₹9,934 crore against an estimate of ₹41,259 crore. The trend continued into 2024-25, where the State realised ₹7,913 crore against an estimated ₹21,636 crore.

Non-tax revenues also consistently lagged behind official forecasts. In 2022-23, non-tax revenue collections came in at ₹23,608 crore compared to a projected estimate of ₹35,208 crore. According to the report, this pattern of non-tax revenue collections missing budget estimates repeated over the subsequent two financial years, although the difference was lower in those years.