Hyderabad: BRS leader and ex-minister T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress govt had introduced an unprecedented practice of paying brokerage charges officially for raising loans through govt corporations. He claimed that while accusing the BRS govt of excessive borrowing, the Congress govt itself was obtaining loans by mortgaging valuable govt lands and paying hundreds of crores in brokerage to intermediaries.“The govt assembly questions replies in the state assembly stated that the govt paid ₹170 crore as brokerage for raising ₹10,000 crore by mortgaging TGIIC lands. Similarly, the govt plans to raise another ₹20,000 crore by mortgaging HMDA lands,” Harish Rao said at a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Saturday.“If ₹170 crore is being paid as brokerage for every ₹10,000 crore borrowed, the total brokerage for ₹30,000 crore would exceed ₹510 crore. If similar borrowings worth ₹70,000 crore are planned through corporations and utilities, brokerage payments could cross ₹1,700 crore. Is this brokerage or bribery? The govt must answer,” Harish Rao demanded.He alleged that no other govt in the country had reduced itself to paying such massive commissions merely to raise loans.The BRS leader reiterated that the party is ready to debate on the borrowings by BRS govt and present Congress govt. He said instead of honouring its commitments, the Congress party has resorted to diversionary politics to escape public scrutiny.Presenting official documents, Harish Rao said the Congress govt was falsely claiming that the BRS govt had borrowed over ₹8.21 lakh crore during its tenure. He explained that the figures being circulated by the state govt included loans that existed even before Telangana was formed on June 2, 2014, as well as loans raised by the Congress govt after it assumed office in December 2023.“Official records show that at the time of Telangana’s formation, the state already had ₹84,268 crore in FRBM and govt-guaranteed loans. In addition, Congress borrowed ₹15,118 crore between December 7, 2023 and March 31, 2024, but these borrowings were also incorrectly included in the debt attributed to the BRS govt,” the ex-finance minister said.Subtracting these amounts from the total outstanding liabilities as on December 7, 2023, Harish Rao said, clearly establishes that the BRS govt’s borrowings stood at ₹4,17 lakh crore, exactly in line with the figure he had presented in the assembly.He further stated that even the Congress government’s own white paper, state budget documents, RBI reports and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports support the BRS position.Quoting the CAG report, Harish Rao said govt-serviced off-budget borrowings stood at ₹1,20 lakh crore by March 2024. After excluding liabilities inherited at the time of state formation, the figure comes to ₹1,09 lakh crore. When this is added to FRBM borrowings of ₹3 lakh crore the total borrowings amount to approximately ₹4.10 lakh crore, further validating the BRS stand.“The figures we are quoting are not ours. They are taken from official government documents, CAG reports, RBI publications and the government’s own Budget documents,” Harish Rao said.Harish Rao accused the Congress govt of presenting different debt figures on different occasions. “The white paper says one thing, assembly statements say another, and ministers quote entirely different numbers during press conferences. One day they claim BRS borrowed ₹8 lakh crore, the next day ₹7 lakh crore. This itself proves that their campaign is politically motivated,” he said.ends/
