Telangana Govt stares at financial burden to fund Rythu Bharosa or crop compensation

Central Government assistance is crucial for Telangana government to meet provide Rythu Bharosa or compensation to farmers. The image is used for representative purposes only.

The Telangana Government is staring at a huge financial burden in the coming days to meet the commitments in the agriculture sector.

At a time when the revenue receipts during the first half of the financial year (2026-27) are not up to the expectations, the government is facing the prospect of announcing investment support to farmers either in the form of Rythu Bharosa or as compensation to farmers for not opting for water-intensive crops like paddy in view of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The government sought ₹30,000 crore special assistance package from the Central Government for providing relief to various affected sections including farmers for whom it proposed to provide direct crop loss compensation. Though the request initially was for ₹20,000 crore package, it was enhanced by ₹10,000 crore in view of the anticipated severity of El Nino — which is expected to last till next rainy season.

The Finance department has a tough task on hand for mobilising the required resources in the coming months as the revenue receipts were not matching expectations. The total receipts at the end of the first half of the fiscal are pegged at ₹92,013 crore which is just 38.14% of the ₹2.41 lakh crore receipts projected for the fiscal in the budget estimates. Borrowings contributed to a major chunk of the receipts at ₹44,612 crore by September end and the amounts raised through auction of securities in October took the total borrowings to nearly ₹50,000 crore.

All eyes are now on the quantum of relief that would be extended by the Central Government as it would be crucial in determining the amount of compensation that would be offered to farmers. The State government has credited close to ₹9,000 crore into the accounts of 71.38 lakh farmers in July towards Rythu Bharosa for Vaanakalam (Kharif season).

In the normal course, the dates for release of the Yasangi (Rabi) instalment would be announced before December end, but the announcement this time around will be based on how the government plans to compensate the farmers as it had asked them not to go for Rabi cultivation in view of the ongoing El Nino.