Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday made a strong pitch for according special status and tax incentives to Telangana, saying the Planning Commission had recognised that eight out of 10 districts of the newly-formed State were backward in development.
Mr. Rao, who is currently in Delhi, raised the matter with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Mr. Jaitley was stated to have wondered why Telangana needed a special status when revenue-generating Hyderabad was part of it.
According to B. Vinod Kumar, MP, who accompanied the Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao told him that the Indian Oil Corporation, the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and other oil companies as well as the AP Beverages Corporation were paying taxes both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana after bifurcation.
Erosion in tax baseThey paid taxes only in Hyderabad in the undivided State which gave an impression that the revenues of Telangana were high.
There was an erosion in the tax base of Hyderabad after bifurcation which dented the revenue generation of Telangana.
Mr. Vinod Kumar also said Mr. Rao discussed devolution of funds by the Centre in the context of the recent visit of the 14 Finance Commission to Telangana to assess the State’s requirements.
