Hyderabad: By the end of Feb in the financial year 2025-26, Telangana recorded a revenue shortfall of nearly 30%. According to the financial data released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the state garnered 1.54 lakh crore in revenue receipts, falling short of the expected 2.29 lakh crore.While this figure marks an improvement of about 10% compared to the same period in 2024-25, Telangana has so far only achieved 67.19% of its budget estimates for 2025-26. This implies that the state needs to make up the remaining 30% by March. The final numbers will be clarified when the CAG releases the financial report for March of the same year.Total revenue receipts for 2026-27 are projected to reach 2,41,264 crore, reflecting an 18% increase over the revised estimates for 2025-26. Meanwhile, in this year, the growth in tax revenues has been robust, with an increase of nearly 12-13% driven by GST, sales tax and excise collections, while non-tax revenues and grants-in-aid have shown comparatively slower growth.In the financial year 2025-26, the total amount of borrowings significantly exceeded the initial budgetary estimate of 5,40,009 crore, reaching an astonishing 7,71,111 crore. This substantial increase means that the actual borrowings surpassed the original projections by an impressive 50%. Such a sizeable deviation underscores the challenges faced in financial planning and highlights the need to reflect the evolving economic landscape.The capital expenditure increased by nearly 33% compared to what was projected. In the budget for 2025-26, it was stated that instead of the expected 36,504 crore, a total of 48,432 crore was spent. By the end of Feb, Telangana achieved non-tax income of 9,105 crore, compared to the anticipated 31,201.8 crore.Meanwhile, sources indicated that the state may fall short by 23,000 crore when the financial year’s balance sheet is finalised.
