The government will not impose an industrial lockdown again in the wake of the growing number of Covid-19 cases clarified the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.

“We are not going to take any hasty decision. We will not close the industries,” he said.

Taking part in the discussion on the Budget for 2021-22 in the Assembly on Friday, he asked the people to follow physical distancing and wear masks to be safe. “People should avoid crowding to prevent spread of the virus,” he said.

He insisted that the closure of schools, colleges and hostels was only a temporary measure.

On Thursday, the State reported 518 new cases as it tested 57,000 samples. Three persons succumbed to the viral infection. It so far administered 10.85 lakh vaccine doses and increased the vaccine delivery centres to 660 from 500 a week ago.

Fiscal prudence

Refuting allegations that the debt burden was going up, the Chief Minister said the State was following fiscal discipline. “Our borrowings are well within the norms. Out of the 29 States, we are in the 25th position in terms of borrowings vis-a-vis the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Our borrowings are only 22.8 per cent,” he said.

The State was using the loans on capital expenditure, he said this had helped the State build irrigation projects, resulting in increased agricultural income. “The capital expenditure in the last six years is ₹2.34 lakh crore as against ₹54,000 crore in 10 years in the combined Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

Despite a loss of ₹1-lakh crore due to the Covid pandemic, the State’s GSDP went up by 1.3 per cent, while many States registered a decline in GSDP, he said.

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