HYDERABAD: Ahead of the Telangana budget on March 20, Telangana Inc has urged the state govt to focus on presenting a growth-oriented budget for 2026-27, with higher capital spending, stronger support for MSMEs and focused investments in infrastructure, power and emerging sectors.FTCCI president R Ravi Kumar said the state budget for 2025-26, which was Rs 3.05 lakh crore, was largely focused on welfare, agriculture and infrastructure. For 2026-27, he said industry expects a 5% to 7% increase in overall expenditure despite resource constraints.Kumar said nearly 75% of the budget is currently absorbed by revenue expenditure, leaving limited room for capital creation. He called on the govt to raise capital expenditure by at least 2% year on year to improve infrastructure and sustain economic growth.He said Telangana’s goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047 would require a stronger manufacturing base, along with specialised industrial corridors and industrial parks in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.On industrial promotion, Kumar said previous budgets allocated Rs 2,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore for subsidies, but actual releases were much lower, at around Rs 500 crore, resulting in pending subsidies now mounting to over Rs 5,750 crore. He said industry expects around Rs 3,500 crore to be earmarked and disbursed on time to support businesses, especially MSMEs.CII Telangana chairman Goutham Reddy Mereddy said the state’s long-term growth ambitions would depend on keeping infrastructure, quality of life and affordability in balance. He said rising traffic congestion and cost of living could affect Telangana’s investment appeal if not addressed through Budget measures.
