All through their fight for a separate State, Telangana protagonists never failed to remind their detractors that Telangana already existed as a prosperous, developed and surplus State.
As if to reconfirm their claim, Telangana has started its journey with a revenue surplus of Rs 7,500 crore for the year 2014-15. According to the projections for the coming 10 months of the current fiscal, Telangana will have revenue of Rs 50,750 crore and expenditure of Rs 43,240 crore.
In sharp contrast, the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh will have a revenue deficit of Rs 15,000 crore during the current fiscal year. Andhra will have revenue of Rs 55,000 crore and projected expenditure of Rs 70,000 crore.
During his last visit to New Delhi and his meeting with PM Narendra Modi, Andhra Pradesh CM-in-waiting N Chandrababu Naidu made a strong plea for help to the State in overcoming the deficit through grants. Seemandhra leaders are upset at the loss of Hyderabad, main source of revenue for Andhra.
