HYDERABAD: On the direction of Departure of Expenditure (DoE), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Telangana became the third state in the country to have taken up the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) reforms. The state is now eligible to raise additional financial resources of Rs 2,508 crore through open market borrowings with the permission already issued by of DoE on Thursday, January 7.
Telangana has joined the states of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in taking up the reforms related to ULBs. These reforms will strengthen the finances of ULBs and will support their work in providing better sanitation and waste management to the public. In May, 2020, the Government of India had increased the borrowing limit of the states by two per cent of their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
Half of the increased funds were for undertaking citizen-centric reforms by the state authorities. The states get the permission to raise additional funds which is equivalent to 0.25 per cent of the GSDP, after the completion of reforms in each sector. The citizen-centric reforms included One Nation One ration card System, Ease of Doing Business reforms, ULBs and power sector reforms.