Telangana government in its maiden budget today unveiled a slew of steps to handle agrarian issues in the state including a Rs 4,250 crore debt relief package for farmers and sops for promoting green house farming and drip irrigation.
Noting that agriculture is the mainstay of about 50 per cent of new state's population, Finance Minister E Rajender said that agriculture and allied sectors to GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) is only 18 per cent in 2014-15 at current prices.
The total provision for agriculture and allied sectors in the budget for 2015-16 is Rs 8,432 crore.
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Agriculture in the state is plagued by erratic rains, low productivity, rising input costs, depleting ground water levels and vulnerability to unfavourable weather conditions, it said.
State government had released Rs 4,250 crore towards farmers debt relief and has proposed another Rs 4,250 crore in the budget for 2015-16.
Proposing an amount of Rs 250 crore for green house farming, the budget said 75 per cent subsidy would be given to farmers on the cost of establishing green houses. Drip irrigation will also be promoted with budgetary allocation of Rs 200 crore.
Recalling that the government has constituted a state- level committee on agricultural market reforms, the minister said the committee's report is being examined for initiating appropriate reforms in marketing.
Facilities e-tendering and auctioning have been introduced in some market centres in the budget, while an alternative marketing system by name 'Mana Ooru- Mana- Kuragayalu' (our village-our vegetables) has also been conceived.
The government is planning to construct godowns with a storage capacity of 6.725 lakh metric tons to augment storage facilities in the state.
Observing that promotion of industrial development is one of the key strategies of the government for economic growth and employment opportunities, the minister said a legislation called Telangana State Industrial Project Approval and Self-Certification System (TS-iPass) was passed in the last session of the Legislative Assembly.
"Under the legislation, a right to Single Window Clearance has been bestowed on all applicants along with a self-certification process. There is a statutory limit of 30 days for processing all applications and this limit is only 15 days for mega projects and projects of strategic importance to the state," the budget said.
During 2015-16, a new pharma city, Hyderabad-Warangal Industrial Corridor, a textile hub at Warangal, mini industrial townships along with industrial parks and loan facilitation to Dalit entrepreneurs have been proposed to be developed.
The pharma city will be developed in 11,000 acres at Mucherla village in Khammam district.
An amount of Rs 973.74 crore is proposed toward payment of industrial incentives in the budget estimate 2015-16.
