Funds for Metro, RRR, Musi projects, expectations from Union Budget run high in State

Ahead of Union Budget 2026-27, expectations run high in Telangana of the Centre favourably considering the long ‘wish list’ Revanth Reddy government had been highlighting to it, for some months, from a funding assistance as well as necessary backing perspective.

Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase-II expansion as well as the ambitious Musi River rejuvenation and Regional Ring Road top the list of major projects for which the State government is looking up to the Centre, though the possibility of pleasant surprises for Telangana look remote if the Budget in recent years are anything to go by.

The Budget for FY27 is also widely expected to be more oriented towards the poll bound States of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, besides the Union Territory of Puducherry. The global geopolitical dynamics and the counter measures to sustain growth are also likely to influence the Budget.

Infrastructure funding, urban development grants and the fulfillment of promises made under the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 are heads under which the wish list of the State government can be broadly categorised. With the Telangana Rising Global Summit in December, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had laid the broad contours of the ambitious Bharat Future City, near Hyderabad, the multi-zone, diversified approach his government is keen to promote for inclusive growth.

Each component in the wish list, be it be the Regional Ring Road with funding requirement of nearly ₹35,000 crore, or the proposal for constructing radial roads that will serve as essential links between the existing Outer Ring Road and RRR as also the more than 70-km second phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail, are essential in terms of accelerating Telangana’s development beyond Hyderabad. A dry port for the landlocked State and an expressway from there connecting to a seaport in Andhra Pradesh, development of new airports, approvals for new railway lines are other infrastructure projects for which Telangana is looking up to the Centre for support.

The Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues have been time and again seeking setting up an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Hyderabad, more Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas, approval for lakhs of rural houses and enhanced allocations under Central schemes, besides more fiscal freedom and measures correcting the imbalance consequent to a decline in the share of the divisible pool of taxes. Development projects in Warangal, support for clusters such as the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park and seeking a greater role in India Semiconductor Mission are aspects they have been highlighting. Under the AP Reorganisation Act, the State has been consistently seeking two projects – a steel plant in Bayyaram and a railway coach factory in Kazipet.

From a political perspective for the BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Budget FY27 will present an opportunity to catch the imagination of people, in the State ruled by principal opposition Congress, with announcements specific to Telangana ,even though elections to the Assembly are sometime away.