Telangana Dy CM Bhatti Calls for Coordinated Efforts to Boost Revenue, Strengthen Telangana’s Finances
Hyderabad, June 12 (TNT): Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Friday directed all government departments to work in close coordination to achieve revenue targets and strengthen the state’s financial stability.
Chairing a high-level meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Resource Mobilisation at the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat, Bhatti reviewed strategies for augmenting revenue resources and assessed the performance of various departments.
The meeting was attended by IT and Industries Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Stressing the importance of maximising tax collections, the Deputy Chief Minister instructed officials to strengthen the enforcement and intelligence wings of the Commercial Taxes Department.
He also directed them to pursue Telangana’s representation in the national GST Fitment Committee, stating that such representation would help safeguard the state’s financial interests.
Reviewing the Excise Department, a major contributor to state revenues, Bhatti ordered the preparation of a foolproof action plan to ensure fiscal targets are achieved on schedule.
To streamline land administration and improve resource mobilisation, he directed Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultaniya to coordinate with the Revenue Department and convene a special meeting.
He also ordered an immediate video conference with district collectors to identify and map government land parcels across the state.
The sub-committee discussed a comprehensive plan for asset monetisation and accelerating land pooling initiatives within the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) limits.
Special Chief Secretary Jayesh Ranjan informed the meeting that land pooling projects at Mokila and Budwel had yielded encouraging results following the success of the Uppal Bhagayat model.
He said three additional projects were currently under evaluation.
The Mministers directed officials to identify more suitable locations for land pooling within Hyderabad while maintaining transparency in implementation.
The committee also reviewed progress of the Hyderabad Infrastructure and Land Transformation (HILT) project and stressed the need to expedite its implementation.
Bhatti directed the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) Department to issue the required notifications at the earliest and undertake extensive awareness campaigns on the project’s benefits.
During the review, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes and GST Raghunandan Rao informed the ministers that Telangana had witnessed a significant rise in GST return filings over the last six months due to strengthened enforcement measures.
He said Telangana currently ranks third in the country in GST collection growth, behind only Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Senior officials, including Planning Principal Secretary Gaurav Uppal, senior IAS officers Shashanka and Krishna Bhaskar, IA&AS officer Nikhil Chakravarthi, and officials from the MAUD, Industries, Excise and Commercial Taxes departments, attended the meeting.
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