Bhatti dares KCR to explain T’s ₹8L crore liabilities

Hyderabad: Deputy chief minister and finance minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Friday threw an open challenge to former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, demanding that the BRS president explain the borrowings during the party’s 10-year tenure and accusing the opposition of spreading ‘falsehoods’ about Telangana’s finances to divert attention from its own record.Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, Bhatti launched a sharp counterattack after former finance minister T Harish Rao questioned the Congress govt’s handling of the state’s finances. “As the opposition leader, I never skipped an assembly session. KCR should not be an exception. He was the one who created this financial burden, so he must come to the assembly and debate,” he said.The finance minister also accused Harish Rao and BRS working president KT Rama Rao of attempting to shift the political debate away from the financial burden inherited by the Congress govt.Bhatti alleged that the BRS govt had left behind liabilities of ₹8.21 lakh crore, including unpaid dues, and challenged KCR to explain how the state had accumulated such a massive debt during the party’s decade in office. “Harish Rao seems to have forgotten that he himself served as finance minister. Instead of spreading misinformation on social media, the BRS leadership should answer for the debt burden it left behind,” he said.

The deputy CM said the Congress govt had already repaid ₹2,08,061 crore towards principal and interest on borrowings raised during the BRS tenure over the last two-and-a-half years. Despite servicing these liabilities, the govt had continued implementing welfare schemes and funding development works without interruption, he said.Bhatti said the govt had also begun restructuring high-interest loans contracted during the previous tenure.

The exercise had reduced the annual interest burden from ₹34,000 crore to around ₹11,000 crore, easing pressure on the state’s finances and creating greater fiscal space for welfare and development expenditure.Stepping up his attack, Bhatti accused the BRS of building its politics on ‘false narratives’ and said Harish Rao was ignoring his own role as finance minister while criticising the present administration.

“The BRS ruled for 10 years on the foundation of lies. Instead of answering questions about its own financial management, it is trying to mislead people through social media,” he alleged.Bhatti’s remarks came amid an intensifying political war between the Congress and the BRS over Telangana’s finances, with both parties increasingly trading charges over debt, borrowings and fiscal management.Bhatti targets BRS over SingareniDeputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka also accused the BRS of pushing Singareni Collieries into crisis during its decade-long tenure, alleging that the previous govt failed to secure even a single new coal block.He claimed BRS leaders were now touring coal belt districts and making ‘false propaganda’ despite their own record in office. Referring to allegations of coal diversion, Bhatti said the state had ordered a detailed vigilance inquiry and directed Singareni authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly.He added that the Telangana govt was pursuing fresh coal block allocations with the Centre while protecting the interests of Singareni and its employees.-GFX:FRBM loans: ₹72,658 crore (2014) to ₹3,89,673 crore (2023)Govt-guaranteed SPV loans (serviced by govt): ₹11,609cr to ₹1,27,208crDebt serviced by govt: ₹84,268cr to ₹5,16,881crGovt-guaranteed SPV loans (serviced by SPVs): ₹5,893cr to ₹95,462crNon-guaranteed corporate loans: ₹59,414cr (2023)Total outstanding debt: ₹90,161cr (2014) to ₹6,71,757cr (2023)Pending bills: ₹40,154 croreOther pending dues (including DISCOM energy dues & Singareni power dues): ₹1,09,740crTotal liabilities (Dec 2023): ₹8,21,651cr