Hyderabad, February 1 (IANS). Union Coal and Mineral Minister G. Kishan Reddy praised the three high-speed rail corridors announced in the Union Budget between Hyderabad and other cities and said that this would greatly boost the economic growth of Telangana.
Responding to the Union Budget 2026-27 presented in Parliament by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy said a total of seven high-speed rail corridors in the country have been declared as ‘links to development’.
He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Sitharaman on behalf of the people of Telangana as the Hyderabad-Pune, Hyderabad-Bengaluru and Hyderabad-Chennai high-speed rail corridors have been announced in the budget. This will help in making Hyderabad the hub of India’s high-speed rail network.
He said that these corridors will make travel faster, generate employment, boost economic activities and accelerate the economic growth of Telangana. This budget reflects the government’s commitment to promote growth towards a ‘developed India’.
Speaking to the media, he said that some parties criticized the lack of funds in the budget for the expansion of Hyderabad Metro Rail, but he rejected this and said that there will be a separate budget allocation for the Metro Rail. Funds for Metro Rail will come after Cabinet approval. If the DPR is submitted, the Ministry of Urban Development will release the funds.
Kishan Reddy said that Telangana will benefit from many schemes of the budget. Along with this, farmers of Telangana will benefit from increasing subsidy on fertilizers.
The Center has also announced a plan for Kakatiya Textile Park. Telangana will get 33 girls’ hostels due to the announcement of one hostel in every district. Telangana will benefit from tax exemption for data centres. Telugu students will benefit from reducing the interest rate on education abroad from 5% to 2%.
On financial cooperation (fund devolution), he also said, “The Union Budget has further strengthened the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism’. For 2026-27, 41% of the tax revenue will be given to the states, which is Rs 15.2 lakh crore.
For Telangana, this amount in 2026-27 is Rs 33,180.78 crore, which is 13.5 percent more than the previous year (29,280.24 crore).
–IANS
AMT/DKP