Telangana

Hyderabad · South

Chief Minister

INC · in office since 2023

Declared figures from the ECI election affidavit (—), via MyNeta/ADR — as declared, not verified. Bars are the original publisher's 0–100 mappings (education mapping; legal: 100 − serious×18 − other×10) — theirs, not ours.

Accountability ratings — by the original publisher

These 0–100 ratings are the original publisher's own, quoted here with their methodology. Audit India computes no score — the same way we carry UNDP's HDI as UNDP's number.

Transparency

44/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Two CAG findings are carried here, both re-checked against the reports themselves in August 2026: the performance audit of the Kaleshwaram project (Report No. 1 of 2024) and the performance audit of construction workers' welfare (Report No. 5 of 2024). The Kaleshwaram finding is among the most significant in Indian audit history — a project whose likely cost the audit puts above ₹1,47,427.41 crore against ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission, with a benefit-cost ratio of 0.52 that makes it, in the auditor's words, economically unviable from the start. The incoming Congress government (Dec 2023) actively facilitated the audit against its BRS predecessor; the transparency score reflects this willingness but tempers it for the BRS administration's documented opacity on debt and expenditure.

Officials' Legal Integrity

98/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

10 unique officials counted (Governor excluded). CM Revanth Reddy: 1 case/1 serious → 82; all 9 others (Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Bhatti Vikramarka, Uttam Kumar Reddy, Tummala Nageswara Rao, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu, P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, Damodar Rajanarasimha, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy): 0 cases → 100. Average: (82+100×9) ÷ 10 = 982 ÷ 10 = 98.2, rounded to 98. TS Congress cabinet is remarkably clean — the one case against Revanth Reddy is legally contested (acquittal with revision petition). The BRS-era leadership (K. Chandrashekar Rao, K.T. Rama Rao) was not indicted despite multiple political controversies; the new Congress cabinet entered office with a strong integrity profile. Provenance note: this score is the original publisher's and is left as published. It counts P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, who is not in the council, and its per-official case counts do not all match the affidavit figures carried in the officials list below. The officials list, with portfolios taken from the state government's own council-of-ministers page, is the sitting council; the arithmetic above is not.

Governance

64/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Composite: indicators avg (62/100) × 50% + Transparency (44/100) × 25% + Integrity (98/100) × 25% = 31 + 11 + 24.5 = 66.5; adjusted down to 64 to reflect: (1) Kaleswaram's structural failure — a ₹1.32 lakh crore project shut on structural safety grounds represents a massive allocation of public capital with minimal benefit delivery, and the off-balance-sheet debt burden constrains Telangana's future public spending; (2) Telangana power sector debt of ~₹1.6 lakh crore in DISCOM liabilities — second only to AP among south Indian states.

Indicators

The 0–100 rings are the original publisher's category scores, in their colour bands — theirs, not ours.

These statistics were carried over from the original publisher, which produced them with a language model rather than compiling them from the publications named beside them. We removed 38 whose figures were absent from the source they credit, and confirmed 45 against theirs. The rest name a publication we have not been able to check them against — read them as the original publisher's figures, not as verified fact.

EconomyGSDP ~₹15.5 lakh crore; Hyderabad = India's 3rd IT hub; pharmaceuticals capital of India4 figures

GSDP 2024-25 (advance estimate): ~₹15.5 lakh crore; Telangana is the world's youngest state (formed June 2014) and one of India's fastest-growing economies. Despite being only 11 years old, it has India's 6th-largest state GSDP — almost entirely driven by Hyderabad's IT-pharma-financial services complex and downstream agriculture in the Godavari-Krishna command area. Per-capita GSDP of ~₹3.2 lakh is well above the national average — though this is skewed by Hyderabad's exceptional concentration of high-income workers.; Telangana Economic Survey 2024-25; MoSPI State-wise NAS
IT/ITES sector — Hyderabad, HITEC City, Cyberabad: ~7.5 lakh IT employees in Hyderabad; India's 3rd IT hub; Hyderabad's HITEC City — the IT sector concentrated in Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur and HICC — employs approximately 7.5 lakh IT/ITES workers, making it India's 3rd IT hub after Bengaluru and the Mumbai-Pune corridor. Microsoft, Google (India's largest tech campus outside Mountain View), Amazon, Facebook, Apple and all major Indian IT companies (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL) have significant Hyderabad presence. Post-COVID, Hyderabad gained substantially from Bengaluru's congestion premium — real estate and labour costs are 30-40% lower.; NASSCOM IT/BPM Strategic Review 2024; TGIIC Annual Report 2023-24
Pharmaceutical industry — Genome Valley: India's pharma capital: 35% of India's bulk drug exports; $10B+ industry; Telangana hosts Genome Valley (Shamirpet, Hyderabad) — India's most concentrated pharmaceutical and life sciences cluster. The ~3,000 pharma companies (50 are US FDA-approved) produce 35% of India's bulk drug exports and supply 30% of the US generic drug market. Major companies include Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Hetero Drugs, Divi's Laboratories, and NATCO. The TS government's Pharma City (18,000 acres in Mucherla, the world's largest planned pharma city) is under development.; Telangana State Pharma & Life Sciences Industry Association 2024; TGIIC Pharma Report
Kaleswaram debt burden: ₹55,807.86 Cr of Kaleshwaram spending from off-budget borrowings (64.3%); Of the ₹86,788.06 crore spent on Kaleshwaram up to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore — 64.3 per cent — was met from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation, which the CAG performance audit (Report No. 1 of 2024) records as Telangana's most significant fiscal exposure. The State never approved the project as a whole — it issued 73 separate administrative approvals totalling ₹1,10,248.48 crore and never ordered a funding pattern at all. Fiscal consolidation will require either restructuring this debt or significantly compressing other capital expenditure.; CAG Report No. 1 of 2024 — Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project; RBI State Finances 2024-25

EducationLiteracy 72.8%; Hyderabad as India's higher-education hub; rural TS educational access gaps3 figures

Higher education ecosystem — Hyderabad: 130+ engineering colleges; IIT Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad, IIIT-Hyderabad, NALSAR; Hyderabad is India's most important public-sector higher education concentration outside Delhi — hosting IIT-Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad (a premier research university), IIIT-Hyderabad (India's best computer science institution outside IITs), NALSAR (National Academy of Legal Studies — India's top law school), NIFT Hyderabad, ICRISAT, ICAR-NIPB, and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). This concentration drives Hyderabad's pharmaceutical and IT competitiveness through research linkages.; AISHE 2021-22; Telangana Higher Education Dept Annual Report 2023-24
ASER 2023 — Grade 5 reading (rural TS): 55.2% of Grade 5 rural students can read Grade 2 text; TS's rural learning outcome of 55.2% (grade 5 reading) is above the national rural average (49.9%) but still means nearly half of Grade 5 children cannot read at Grade 2 level. The tribal districts — Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally — have outcomes near 40%. TS's English-medium policy for government schools (introduced under BRS) has had mixed results: English instruction creates aspirational value but learning in English before functional Telugu literacy is established has depressed comprehension outcomes in some rural districts.; ASER 2023 (Annual Status of Education Report), Pratham
Gurukul school system — Scheduled Tribe and SC schools: TS Gurukuls: 340 residential schools; 2.8 lakh students from SC/ST communities; Telangana's gurukul system — Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions (TSWREIS) and Tribal Welfare (TTWREIS) — provides 2.8 lakh SC/ST students free residential education from Class V to XII. The gurukul schools have produced TS's most impressive social mobility outcomes — 30%+ of Hyderabad's IT workforce from SC/ST backgrounds are gurukul alumni, a distinctive achievement in an industry that nationally draws less than 5% from SC/ST communities. Educational outcomes remain strong, though infrastructure maintenance in the residential schools is a recurring complaint.; TSWREIS Annual Report 2023-24; TTWREIS Annual Report 2023-24; TS Social Welfare Dept

EmploymentIT + pharma create formal employment; rural telangana drought-dependent; power sector DISCOM debt ₹1.6 lakh crore4 figures

Unemployment rate (PLFS 2023-24): 3.8%; Telangana's unemployment rate of 3.8% is slightly above the national average but low for a south Indian state. The IT and pharma sector provide formal employment to approximately 12 lakh workers in Hyderabad. However, rural Telangana — particularly the Palamuru (Mahabubnagar) region — has high distress migration to Hyderabad construction sites and to Gulf countries (Telangana has India's 2nd highest NRI remittance per capita after Kerala, primarily from Gulf-migrated workers from Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and Khammam).; PLFS 2023-24, MoSPI; Telangana NRO Annual Report 2023-24
Gulf migration — Telangana's NRI community: ~7 lakh Telanganis in Gulf countries; remittances ~₹18,000 Cr/year; Telangana has one of India's most concentrated Gulf migration patterns — approximately 7 lakh Telanganis work in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, primarily in construction, driving and service industry. The Gulf migration is highest from Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Khammam and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. The "Pravasi Bharatiya" tragedy of 2024 (several Telangana workers deceived into going to conflict zones — Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand for cyber-fraud rackets) brought attention to TS's migration vulnerability. Remittances of ~₹18,000 crore per year are critical income for the receiving families.; TS NRO Annual Report 2023-24; MEA Emigration Statistics 2024
MGNREGS — employment guarantee: MGNREGS is the main rural safety net in the drought-prone west; MGNREGS is the critical rural safety net in Telangana's drought-prone western districts (Palamuru, Nalgonda, Vikarabad, Sangareddy), and particularly in Mahabubnagar, where cotton farmers facing debt distress depend on it during the kharif lean season. No CAG audit of MGNREGS in Telangana has been published, so no audited delivery or wage-delay figure is carried here.; mgnregs.nic.in MIS
IT and pharma formal employment — Hyderabad's dual engine: Hyderabad: 6 lakh IT professionals; Genome Valley pharma hub — ₹1.5 lakh Cr output; 70,000 direct pharma jobs; Hyderabad is India's 2nd largest IT city (after Bengaluru) — with 6 lakh IT professionals in the HITEC City-Gachibowli corridor employed by TCS, Infosys, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta (all have significant campuses). The Genome Valley (Turkapally) is India's premier pharma-biotech cluster — 800+ pharma companies generating ₹1.5 lakh crore in output, including 40% of India's total bulk drug production. Telangana accounts for 35% of India's total pharma exports. These high-skill sectors contrast sharply with the MGNREGS-dependent rural economy — creating a structural dual economy within the state.; NASSCOM Hyderabad IT Sector Survey 2024; Telangana Pharma & Life Sciences Policy Report 2024

HealthIMR 25 — below national avg; Aarogyasri covers 1 crore families; fluorosis belt in Nalgonda a chronic crisis3 figures

Infant Mortality Rate (SRS 2022): 25 per 1,000 live births — below national avg of 27; TS performs slightly better than the national average on IMR — reflecting its urban hospital density (Hyderabad alone has ~120 private hospitals with NABH accreditation), Aarogyasri coverage, and above-average maternal health indicators. The government NIMS (Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences), AIIMS Hyderabad (under construction) and Osmania General Hospital serve as tertiary referral points for both TS and AP.; SRS Bulletin 2022, Registrar General; NFHS-5 TS Factsheet
Fluorosis crisis — Nalgonda belt: 14 lakh people with dental/skeletal fluorosis in 8 Nalgonda mandals; water fluoride 3-20× WHO limit; Nalgonda district's fluoride crisis is one of India's longest-documented geogenic water quality disasters. Groundwater fluoride levels of 1.5-9 mg/L (WHO limit 1.5 mg/L) have caused dental fluorosis in 60% and skeletal fluorosis in 15% of the population of 8 mandals. The Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation has documented cases for 50 years. The BRS government's Mission Bhagiratha connected surface water to most Nalgonda habitations, reducing new fluoride exposure. However, the existing burden of skeletal deformities — affecting 2-3 lakh people — requires orthopaedic care that the district hospital infrastructure cannot provide.; FRRDF Nalgonda Fluorosis Assessment 2023; NHM TS; Kaleswaram Mission Bhagiratha Impact Report
Child stunting (NFHS-5): 33.1%; TS's stunting at 33.1% is below the national average of 35.5% — above AP (31.1%) but better than most north-central states. The tribal districts (Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Kumuram Bheem) have stunting rates of 40-45%, reflecting the lower ICDS reach and higher food insecurity in these remote communities. The Congress government's "Maa Ooru Maa Badi" school nutrition programme and the continuation of Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak social welfare schemes maintain coverage.; NFHS-5 (2019-21) TS State Factsheet, MoHFW / IIPS

SafetyEncounter killings controversy; Hyderabad relatively safe; Kaleswaram barrage failure a structural safety risk4 figures

Total IPC cognizable crimes per lakh (NCRB 2022): ~159 per lakh; Telangana's crime rate of ~159 per lakh is below the national average (~169) and significantly below Karnataka. Hyderabad — often ranked as one of India's safer large cities — benefits from the Rachakonda and Hyderabad Commissionerate's tech-enabled policing (Hawk-Eye surveillance, SHE Teams for women's safety, and Dial-100 Emergency Response System). However, cyber-crimes have risen sharply in Hyderabad — 6,823 cybercrime cases in 2022, with online fraud and investment scams targeting NRI remittance recipients as a primary vector.; NCRB Crime in India 2022; Telangana Police Annual Report 2022
"Encounter" killings — Telangana Police: 655 encounter killings 2014-2022; 2019 Disha case nationally controversial; Telangana Police conducted 655 custodial encounter killings between 2014 and 2022 — the highest among all Indian states in this period. The December 2019 "Disha" case (four accused in a rape-murder, killed in a staged encounter) triggered national debate: while polls showed 70%+ public approval, legal scholars and the NHRC condemned the extrajudicial killings. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) found the encounter "staged" in its 2022 report. The Congress government has not changed the institutional culture around encounters. This record is TS's most significant human rights accountability gap.; NHRC Annual Report 2022-23; SIT Report on Disha Encounter 2022; PUCL Telangana Encounter Report 2023
Kaleswaram barrage structural failure — public safety: Medigadda barrage piers sank in October 2023; downstream flood risk unquantified; The piers of the Medigadda barrage sank in October 2023. A six-member committee constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority found the cause to be a combination of planning, design and operation-and-maintenance failures; the CAG performance audit (Report No. 1 of 2024) records a ₹476.03 crore commitment for rectification. A catastrophic barrage failure on the Godavari during monsoon floods would threaten downstream populations in West and East Godavari, Bhadrachalam and the Papikonda National Park ecosystem. The barrage could not be filled after the damage — an unplanned limitation that also cost farmers the assured irrigation they were promised.; CAG Report No. 1 of 2024 — Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project
Road traffic fatalities — Telangana's worst public-safety crisis: 12,000+ road deaths annually (NCRB 2022); Hyderabad Outer Ring Road fatality rate 2× national highway avg; Telangana's 12,000+ annual road traffic deaths — the highest among southern states — reflect Hyderabad's explosive vehicle growth (70 lakh registered vehicles, growing at 8%/year) without proportional road-safety infrastructure. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) — 158 km expressway around Hyderabad — has a fatality rate 2× the national expressway average; speeding and inadequate lighting are primary causes. NCRB 2022 ranks Telangana 4th in absolute road fatality count. The city's 40%+ two-wheeler modal share (common in low-income periurban belts) means most victims are young men on motorcycles without helmets.; NCRB Accidental Deaths & Suicides India 2022; Hyderabad Traffic Police Road Safety Annual Report 2023-24

EnvironmentHyderabad's Hussainsagar polluted; Godavari ecology threatened by Kaleswaram; forest cover 24.6%4 figures

Forest cover (ISFR 2023): 26,973 sq km — 24.06% of state area; TS's forest cover of 24.06% is above the national average, concentrated in the Khammam (Bhadradri Kothagudem), Adilabad, and Mulugu districts bordering Chhattisgarh. The Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (shared with AP, 3,568 sq km — India's largest PA by area) lies partially in Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts. TS's forest lost 67 sq km between 2021-23 (ISFR), primarily from limestone quarrying, illegal sand mining in Godavari tributaries, and conversion to aquaculture ponds in Khammam's tribal areas.; ISFR 2023, Forest Survey of India; NTCA Tiger Reserve List
Hussainsagar lake pollution — Hyderabad: BOD 12× permissible limit; eutrophic; blue-green algae blooms 8 months/year; Hussainsagar — the 500-year-old lake at the heart of Hyderabad, created by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah in 1562 — is one of India's most polluted urban lakes. Receiving untreated sewage from 14 drains, industrial effluent from Moosapet and Musheerabad, and religious immersion waste (Ganesh idol immersion deposits 42,000+ idols annually), the lake has BOD 12× the permissible limit and supports algae blooms from April to November. Despite ₹320 crore spent on HMDA's Hussainsagar Rejuvenation Project, ecological restoration has not been achieved. The Necklace Road lakefront redevelopment has improved aesthetics but not water quality.; HMDA Hussainsagar Water Quality Report 2024; TSPCB Annual Report 2023-24
Godavari river ecology — Kaleswaram impact: Godavari fish biomass declined 32% in TS stretch since 2018; mangrove-formation disrupted; The Kaleswaram project's series of barrages (Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla) created reservoirs on the Godavari that impeded the natural river flow and flood pulse critical to the alluvial plain's ecology. Fish biomass in the TS stretch of the Godavari declined 32% between 2018 and 2023, affecting the livelihoods of approximately 40,000 fishing families (predominantly Goundla and Mudiraj communities). The Medigadda barrage closure has released partial flows, but the structural damage to the river's sediment dynamics is likely irreversible.; ICAR-CIFRI Godavari Fish Survey 2023; ZSI Telangana Aquatic Biodiversity Report 2024
Renewable energy (2024): ~19 GW (solar + wind + hydro); Telangana is India's 4th largest renewable energy state — dominated by solar (13 GW from Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts), wind (4 GW from Adilabad and Karimnagar), and hydro (2 GW from Srisailam and Pochampad dams). The Mahabubnagar Solar Park (2 GW, under construction) will be one of India's largest on completion. TS's Renewable Energy Policy 2023 targets 20 GW by 2030. TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL (TS's two power distribution companies) had combined AT&C losses of ~16% in 2023-24 — among south India's lower rates.; MNRE State-wise Installed Capacity 2024; TSGENCO Annual Report 2023-24

Office-holders

Figures below are as declared by each individual in their own ECI or Rajya Sabha affidavit. We report them; we do not score them. The small bars under education are the original publisher's 0–100 mapping of the declared qualification — their construct, not a measurement of ours.

Name	Office	Party · since	Declared cases	Declared qualification	Affidavit
ARA. Revanth Reddy	Chief Minister	INC· 2023	—	—	—
SPShiv Pratap Shukla	Governor	—	—	—	—
GPGaddam Prasad Kumar	Speaker, Telangana Legislative Assembly	INC· 2023	1	12th Pass	2023
BVBhatti Vikramarka Mallu	Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Finance & Planning and Energy	INC· 2023	3	Post Graduate	2023
NUN. Uttam Kumar Reddy	Minister for Irrigation & Command Area Development and Food & Civil Supplies	INC· 2023	—	—	—
TNTummala Nageswara Rao	Minister for Agriculture, Marketing, Co-operation and Handlooms & Textiles	INC· 2023	0	Graduate	2023
PSPonguleti Srinivas Reddy	Minister for Revenue and Housing and Information & Public Relations	INC· 2023	—	—	—
DSD. Sridhar Babu	Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Industries & Commerce and Legislative Affairs	INC· 2023	—	—	—
DRDamodar Rajanarasimha	Minister for Health, Medical & Family Welfare and Science & Technology	INC· 2023	—	—	—
KVKomatireddy Venkat Reddy	Minister for Roads & Buildings and Cinematography	INC· 2023	6	12th Pass	2023
DAD. Anasuya Seethakka	Minister for Panchayat Raj & Rural Development and Women & Child Welfare	INC· 2023	—	—	—
KSKonda Surekha	Minister for Environment & Forests and Endowments	INC· 2023	—	—	—

What the CAG found in this state (2)

Findings from CAG audit reports on schemes as they ran in this state, quoted with their report references. We add no grade of our own.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation ProjectReport No. 1 of 2024 (Performance Audit) · 2024
Planning, cost, funding and command area created, up to March 2022
The Kaleshwaram project is likely to cost more than ₹1,47,427.41 crore against the ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission. At the understated cost the benefit-cost ratio works out to 0.75; at the likely cost it is 0.52 — meaning every rupee spent returns 52 paise, which the audit says makes the project economically unviable from the start. Against a target of 18.26 lakh acres of new command area, works entrusted covered 14.83 lakh acres and the command area actually created was 40,888 acres.
What the audit measured
Of ₹86,788.06 crore spent up to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore — 64.3 per cent — came from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation. The State never approved the project as a whole; it issued 73 separate administrative approvals totalling ₹1,10,248.48 crore and never ordered a funding pattern. Seventeen works worth ₹25,049.99 crore were awarded before the detailed project report was approved. Raising the lifting capacity from 2 to 3 TMC a day added ₹28,151 crore. Re-engineering made work already done redundant, a ₹767.78 crore loss. Of 56 works, 12 were complete, 40 ongoing and four had not started. The audit says undue benefit of at least ₹2,684.73 crore to pump contractors cannot be ruled out, and a price adjustment clause added after tendering cost ₹1,342.48 crore.
Read this report in our archive →
Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers, TelanganaReport No. 5 of 2024 (Performance Audit) · 2024
Registration, cess collection and welfare spending for construction workers, 2017-18 to 2021-22
Telangana's construction workers' welfare board was running with three members against the eight the rules require, and had prepared annual accounts only up to 2018-19 as of May 2023. Of ₹164.25 crore of labour cess collected by the seven sampled urban local bodies and one development authority, only ₹59.86 crore reached the Board — ₹104.39 crore, 64 per cent, stayed with the collecting bodies.
What the audit measured
The Board spent ₹32.43 crore on advertisements out of cess funds in 2017-19, despite a 2015 Supreme Court order and 2016 central instructions forbidding it. Of ₹1,004.82 crore advanced for Covid-19 relief on the State Government's direction, only ₹258.04 crore was actually spent on construction workers. Of 1,38,908 welfare claims, 83,736 were paid, 10,125 rejected and 45,047 left pending, with no record that rejections were ever communicated to the applicants. ₹51.47 crore was lost to dishonoured cheques and demand drafts that were never realised. The Andhra Pradesh board still owed Telangana's ₹431.94 crore nine years after bifurcation.
Read this report in our archive →

Election promises

The promises and their delivery status come from the original publisher and are their assessment, not ours. They cite a party's homepage rather than a manifesto, so what was promised cannot be checked from the citation given. Audit India has verified neither the wording nor the status.

Where a CAG finding is quoted below, its figures have been checked against the report cited. Thirty-seven were withdrawn because the report they named does not exist or is a search page.

INC · 2023Congress Telangana Guarantees Manifesto 20230✓12~1✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced13 promises

Electricity & Women

Free electricity up to 200 units per month for all domestic consumers
Partly delivered
Congress launched Gruha Jyothi scheme: 200 units free per month for all household consumers. 91 lakh households benefit. However implementation had hiccups — first installments delayed by 3-4 months; BPL/non-BPL threshold disputes; Telangana DISCOM financial health (~₹60,000 crore debt) makes sustainability unclear. Scheme operational by mid-2024.
Mahalakshmi: ₹2,500/month to family homemaker and free bus travel for all women
Partly delivered
Mahalakshmi scheme: free TSRTC bus travel launched for all women December 2023; ~15 lakh women daily. ₹2,500/month to homemakers ("Gruha Lakshmi") not implemented — Congress scaled back to free bus only, citing fiscal constraints. The ₹2,500 cash component remains pending as of mid-2026.

Agriculture & Farmers

Farm loan waiver up to ₹2 lakh for all Telangana farmers
Partly delivered
Congress announced a ₹2 lakh farm loan waiver; first phase disbursement started March 2024 covering 11 lakh farmers (₹6,200 crore released). Total estimated cost ~₹31,000 crore. As of mid-2026, ~15 lakh of the ~24 lakh eligible farmers have received relief. Process slower than promised due to bank data reconciliation issues.

Youth & Employment

Unemployed youth allowance: ₹4,000/month for graduates, ₹2,000 for intermediates
Not delivered
Yuva Vikasam unemployed youth allowance promised during campaign. As of mid-2026 the scheme is not launched. GoTS cited lack of beneficiary database, fiscal constraints from farm loan waiver and Gruha Jyothi expenditure. One of the most visibly unfulfilled 2023 guarantees.
Fill 2 lakh government vacancies within 1 year through transparent TSPSC recruitment
Partly delivered
Congress government initiated Group-1, Group-2, and departmental recruitment through TSPSC. Approximately 35,000 posts filled by mid-2026; Group-1 provisional results declared March 2026. The 2-lakh-in-one-year target was never realistic — TS's actual sanctioned vacant posts are estimated at 1.1 lakh, and TSPSC exam cycles take 18-24 months end-to-end. BRS paper-leak legacy from 2022 (TSPSC Group-2 exam leak) continues to dog the board's credibility.

Farmers & Irrigation

Rythu Bharosa: ₹15,000/year to all farmers including tenant farmers excluded under BRS
Partly delivered
Congress Rythu Bharosa: ₹7,500 per season (Kharif 2024 first payment) to 40 lakh registered farmers — crucially including tenant farmers for the first time in TS history. BRS's Rythu Bandhu excluded tenant/sharecropper farmers who constitute ~25% of cultivators. By mid-2026, two instalments disbursed. Enhancement to ₹15,000/year (vs BRS's ₹10,000/acre) is meaningful for small farmers but disadvantages large landholders. Tenant farmer inclusion is the most substantive policy shift.
Probe Kaleshwaram irregularities and recover public money lost in BRS-era cost overruns
Partly delivered
Congress appointed a Fact-Finding Committee (later upgraded to a Commission of Inquiry) in 2024 to probe Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme irregularities. The CAG's 2024 performance audit had already put the project's likely cost above ₹1,47,427.41 crore and flagged structural concerns. Commission hearings are ongoing; no recoveries made as of mid-2026. KCR and key BRS officials served notices; several KLIS Corporation officials under investigation. High-profile probe but slow-moving.
CAG Performance Audit of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Report 1 of 2024, Telangana): the audit found the project's cost is now likely to exceed ₹1,47,427.41 crore, against ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission — an increase of 80 per cent.

Employment & Contractual Workers' Rights

Regularise all contractual employees in Telangana government; fill 80,000 government vacancies within 2 years
Partly delivered
Congress 2023 Telangana manifesto committed to regularising all "outsourcing" and contract employees in government (estimated 1.2 lakh workers in municipalities, Singareni Collieries, TSRTC etc.). By mid-2026, ~42,000 contractual employees regularised with permanent status — primarily in municipal bodies and state corporations. The full 1.2 lakh target stalled due to fiscal constraints: regularisation implies permanent salary (₹35,000-50,000/month vs ₹15,000-18,000 contract). Government recruitment: TSPSC (Telangana State Public Service Commission) accelerated — 48,000 posts filled in 2024-25 (vs BRS's average 22,000/year). The 80,000 target in 2 years was not met (cumulative 48,000), but the pace is significantly above the BRS era. Contractual employee protests (by those not yet regularised) marked the mid-term of the Congress government.

SC/ST/BC Welfare — Cheyutha & Social Upliftment

Cheyutha scheme: ₹18,000 direct benefit/year to 9 lakh BC/OBC women; enhance SC Corporation funding
Partly delivered
Cheyutha ("support" in Telugu) was Congress's most ambitious new welfare scheme for backward classes — ₹18,000/year (₹1,500/month) direct transfer to 9 lakh women from BC/OBC categories not covered by Dalit Bandhu or other targeted schemes. By mid-2026, 6.2 lakh beneficiaries enrolled and receiving transfers — 69% of target. Remaining 2.8 lakh: database verification pending (caste certificate issues and duplicate with other schemes causing exclusion). SC Corporation (Telangana SC Development Corporation): ₹3,000 crore corpus (up from BRS's ₹1,200 crore) — providing self-employment loans at 4% to SC entrepreneurs. 32,000 loans disbursed (2024-25). ST Corporation similarly enhanced. Key achievement: Congress extended the Dalit Bandhu (₹10 lakh/family) to 1.2 lakh additional Dalit households — slower than the BRS-era promise but continued.

Women's Safety & SHE Teams

Expand SHE Teams to all 33 districts; fast-track women's safety courts; free bus travel for all women
Partly delivered
SHE Teams — Telangana's pioneering plainclothes women police units created by KCR in 2014 to deter eve-teasing and sexual harassment — are internationally cited as a best practice. Congress 2023 committed to expanding from 24 districts to all 33 and doubling team strength. By mid-2026: SHE Teams operational in all 33 districts; team strength increased from 1,400 to 2,200 personnel; 64,000 cases handled (2024-25). Free bus travel for women: TSRTC launched women's free bus scheme October 2023 — 28 lakh women beneficiaries/day (largest such scheme in AP/TS region). Fast-track courts: 8 new Mahila courts commissioned in 2024, reducing POCSO case backlog. Women's safety challenge: Hyderabad's rapid growth as a tech hub has attracted young women employees, and cases of cab/auto harassment increased — app-based reporting integrated with SHE Teams in 2025.

Rajiv Arogyasri 2.0 — Universal Health Insurance

Expand Aarogyasri health cover to ₹25 lakh per family; include outpatient treatment; cover all 33 districts equally
Partly delivered
Rajiv Aarogyasri (launched 2007 by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy) was the world's first government-funded health insurance scheme for the poor — and inspired Ayushman Bharat. BRS capped it at ₹5 lakh (₹10 lakh for specific diseases). INC 2023 expanded it as Rajiv Arogyasri 2.0: ₹10 lakh base + ₹15 lakh additional for critical illness (cancer, cardiac, renal, neuro). By mid-2026: 75 lakh families enrolled; 8.2 lakh treatments (₹4,800 crore claims settled). OPD inclusion (medicines, diagnostics up to ₹1,000/visit) piloted in 12 districts. No CAG audit of Telangana's health insurance scheme has been published, so no audited claims figure is carried here.

Indiramma Illu — Housing Guarantee for Every Poor Family

Build 20 lakh homes over 5 years under Indiramma Illu; ₹5 lakh per unit with open design choice; complete BRS's unfinished 2BHK backlog
Partly delivered
Indiramma Illu (Indiramma's Home) — INC's housing promise — aims to complete what BRS left unfinished (2.89 lakh 2BHK of 10 lakh target) and add further homes. The scheme provides ₹5 lakh per unit (GoT ₹3.5 lakh + PMAY ₹1.5 lakh) to BPL families — without prescriptive 2BHK design, allowing beneficiaries to build to their own floor plan. As of mid-2026: 3.2 lakh units sanctioned, 1.1 lakh under construction, 28,000 completed. Challenges: urban land availability; contractor interest at ₹5 lakh barely covers 2024 material costs; 20% beneficiary own-funds requirement. No CAG audit of the Indiramma Illu scheme has been published.

Farm Loan Waiver & Rythu Bharosa — Farmer Income Support

Waive farm loans up to ₹2 lakh; replace Rythu Bandhu with Rythu Bharosa (₹7,500/acre including tenant farmers)
Partly delivered
Two of Congress's most prominent Telangana 2023 promises: (1) Farm loan waiver: INC promised ₹2 lakh waiver within 10 days of taking office. Revanth Reddy government announced in December 2023. Cooperative bank loans (₹13,200 crore for 23 lakh farmers) being waived; nationalised bank waivers require RBI-GoI coordination. By mid-2026: ₹8,400 crore waived (64% of target). (2) Rythu Bharosa: replacing Rythu Bandhu (₹5,000/acre) with Rythu Bharosa (₹7,500/acre — 50% increase) AND including tenant farmers (excluded from Rythu Bandhu). Phase 1 (November 2024): ₹7,500/acre to 42 lakh registered landowners. Tenant farmer inclusion: 12 lakh tenants registered under Telangana Tenant Agricultural Practices Act (2024) — first payment pending.

BRS · 2018TRS Telangana Election Manifesto 20187✓6~0✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced13 promises

Agriculture

Rythu Bandhu: ₹10,000/acre per season as investment support to all Telangana farmers
Delivered
Rythu Bandhu (farmer's friend) was India's first direct income support to farmers based on land holdings — predating PM-KISAN. ₹10,000/acre/year (₹5,000 per Kharif and Rabi) paid to 58 lakh farming families; ~₹14,800 crore/year. Internationally recognised; replicated by other states. One of KCR's landmark achievements.
Mission Kakatiya: restore 1 lakh tanks and waterbodies to boost irrigation coverage
Partly delivered
Mission Kakatiya: 47,000 tanks and water bodies restored or rejuvenated in 5 phases (2014-2023). Water storage increased in treated tanks; irrigation coverage of small and marginal farmers improved. However the 1 lakh figure was not reached; many restored tanks showed re-siltation within 3-4 years. No CAG audit of Mission Kakatiya has been published.

Social Welfare

Kalyana Lakshmi / Shadi Mubarak: ₹1.01 lakh marriage assistance for SC/ST/minority girls
Delivered
Kalyana Lakshmi (for SC/ST/BC) and Shadi Mubarak (for minorities): ₹1,00,116 marriage gift to eligible families. 3.5 lakh beneficiaries per year. Enhanced from ₹51,000 (2014) to ₹1,00,116 during the term. One of Telangana's most consistently delivered welfare schemes.
Dalit Bandhu: ₹10 lakh direct benefit to each Dalit family for entrepreneurship
Partly delivered
Dalit Bandhu launched 2021 with ₹10 lakh per Dalit beneficiary for income-generation enterprise. As of the 2023 election, only ~48,000 beneficiaries covered out of ~15 lakh Dalit households. High per-beneficiary cost (₹10 lakh) makes universal coverage prohibitively expensive. BRS lost power before scaling the scheme; Congress government has slowed disbursal.

Electricity & Water

24×7 quality power to all agricultural and domestic consumers in Telangana
Partly delivered
Telangana achieved 24×7 domestic power supply to urban areas — one of the best records among Indian states. Agriculture gets 9 hours/day (structured). Rural domestic supply is 20-22 hours. Some districts face load-shedding during peak summer. Overall TS power sector performance is above national average.
Mission Bhagiratha: safe piped drinking water to every rural household in Telangana
Delivered
Mission Bhagiratha — one of India's most ambitious rural drinking water projects — delivered piped water to 56 lakh rural households across 18 districts by 2018, achieving near-universal coverage ahead of the national JJM programme. ₹43,791 crore invested. Fluoride and nitrate contamination villages were the priority. Independently verified by NABARD and World Bank observers. Among BRS's most concrete and delivered infrastructure achievements.

Irrigation

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation: irrigate 37 lakh acres and provide drinking water to 70 lakh people in North Telangana
Partly delivered
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) — the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project — was KCR's signature infrastructure promise, formally launched June 2019. The CAG performance audit puts the cost projected to the Central Water Commission at ₹81,911.01 crore and the likely cost above ₹1,47,427.41 crore, and the command area actually created at 40,888 acres against a target of 18.26 lakh acres. Of ₹86,788.06 crore spent to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore came from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation — a contingent liability now borne by the state.
CAG Performance Audit of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Report 1 of 2024, Telangana): the audit found the project's cost is now likely to exceed ₹1,47,427.41 crore, against ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission — an increase of 80 per cent.

Social Welfare & Pensions

Aasara pension: ₹1,000/month to all poor elderly, widows, disabled and weavers
Delivered
Aasara pension was one of TS's most valued welfare schemes — ₹1,000/month (enhanced to ₹2,016 by 2022) to 38 lakh beneficiaries across elderly, widow, disabled, toddy-tapper and weaver categories. Delivered door-to-door on the 1st of each month. The CAG performance audit of the scheme (Report No. 1 of 2023) found ₹535.39 crore of irregular or inappropriate sanctions, but the scheme's reach and regularity were acknowledged as strong. Congress continues the scheme under a different name.
CAG Report No. 1 of 2023 (Performance Audit of the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Aasara Pensions, Telangana): irregular or inappropriate sanctions led to payments of ₹535.39 crore, of which ₹71.90 crore went to the Disabled category. ₹0.90 crore was paid against 367 deceased beneficiaries beyond their date of death. Cross-checking Transport Department data revealed ₹51.98 crore paid to beneficiaries owning four-wheelers, and Registration and Stamps data revealed ₹31.42 crore paid to 5,715 people who had registered assets worth more than ₹10 lakh. Sixteen per cent of the households the state's own survey found ineligible were nevertheless enrolled.CAG-flagged: ₹328 crore
2BHK Housing: two-bedroom houses for all urban poor and slum dwellers in Telangana
Partly delivered
BRS 2BHK scheme: government-built two-bedroom homes for urban poor (PMAY-U supplemented). 2.76 lakh units sanctioned; ~1.93 lakh units completed and allotted by the 2023 election. Many of the completed units in peripheral areas lacked basic water supply, sewerage and road access for 1-2 years post-handover. Unit construction quality complaints were common. The scheme was one of India's largest state-funded urban housing programmes.

IT & T-Hub — Hyderabad as India's Second Silicon Valley

Make Hyderabad India's top IT destination; establish T-Hub as world's largest startup incubator; attract global tech majors
Delivered
BRS (then TRS) transformed Hyderabad into India's second-largest IT hub — a remarkable achievement given the bifurcation shock of 2014 when Andhra Pradesh took half the state's economy. T-Hub (Technology Hub) — the world's largest startup incubator by physical space (Phase 2: 5.8 lakh sq ft, HITEC City) — hosted 2,100 startups by 2023; 12 unicorns, $4.8 billion raised. Key tech investments under BRS: Amazon India HQ (Hyderabad), Google's ₹7,500 crore data centre, Microsoft India HQ, Apple R&D centre. IT exports from Hyderabad: ₹1.75 lakh crore (2022-23) — 20% of India's total IT exports. HITEC City expansion: Phase 3 (WaveRock complex, Nanakramguda) added 2 crore sq ft of Grade-A office. ORR (Outer Ring Road) was the infrastructure enabler — 30 IT campuses located on ORR corridor. BRS's investor-friendly stance (single-window Telangana Industrial Services) and KCR's personal relationships with tech executives (trips to Silicon Valley, Dubai) directly contributed.

Rythu Bandhu — Farm Investment Support Scheme

Provide ₹4,000/acre per season to all land-owning farmers without intermediaries — direct investment support
Delivered
Rythu Bandhu (Farmers' Friend) — launched May 2018 before the December 2018 election — is India's first universal farm investment support scheme: a direct cash transfer of ₹4,000/acre/season (raised to ₹5,000/acre from 2019) into farmer bank accounts at the start of each Rabi and Kharif season for seeds, fertiliser and labour. Requires NO application, NO crop loss proof, NO intermediary. Scale: 58.33 lakh farmers, 1.53 crore acres enrolled (2022-23). Annual outlay: ₹15,000 crore (two seasons) — 15% of Telangana's total budget. Total payments 2018-23: ₹60,000 crore. Nationally cited as a model — 11 states followed. PM-KISAN (launched February 2019) is a derivative. Limitation: tenant farmers (25-30% of cultivators) are excluded — only land-owning farmers benefit. No CAG audit of Rythu Bandhu has been published.

Mission Bhagiratha — Safe Drinking Water to Every Household

Pipe safe drinking water from Krishna and Godavari to every rural household in Telangana by 2018
Delivered
Mission Bhagiratha — one of the largest rural drinking water projects in Indian history — was the BRS government's flagship infrastructure promise. Launched 2016, completed (99.6%) by 2019. The scheme piped water from the Krishna and Godavari rivers to every rural household and habitation in Telangana: 2.53 crore rural people across 26,055 villages. Scale: 1.42 crore new connections, 36,000 km pipeline, 7,500+ overhead tanks. Investment: ₹43,791 crore (GoT + NABARD loans). By 2021, Telangana achieved 80.6% household tap water connectivity (NFHS-5) — significantly above the national 43.5% average. Remaining challenge: distribution pressure (last-mile delivery) and water quality, Nalgonda and Suryapet being historically fluoride-affected districts. Mission Bhagiratha won a United Nations Public Service Award (2018).

2BHK Double Bedroom Housing — Urban & Rural Poor

Provide free 2BHK (2-bedroom hall kitchen, 560 sqft) homes to all urban slum dwellers and rural landless; 3 lakh homes for Hyderabad
Partly delivered
The 2BHK scheme — one of KCR's most ambitious welfare announcements — promised free two-bedroom homes (560 sqft) to all urban poor and rural landless in Telangana. Total target: 10 lakh homes (2 lakh/year for 5 years). As of 2023: ~2.89 lakh homes constructed and handed over — approximately 28% of target. Key challenges: (1) land acquisition in urban Hyderabad (slums on revenue, disputed, and lake-bed land); (2) contractor defaults; (3) infrastructure gaps in the completed colonies — internal roads, drainage and compound walls. Despite shortfalls, 2.89 lakh families moved from kutcha/temporary structures to permanent RCC homes. The Congress 2023 manifesto promised to complete the remaining 7+ lakh units under "Indiramma Illu". BRS's argument: no prior government had delivered this scale of dignity housing in Telangana.

Audit record

2 CAG reports

Accountability ratings — by the original publisher

These 0–100 ratings are the original publisher's own, quoted here with their methodology. Audit India computes no score — the same way we carry UNDP's HDI as UNDP's number.

Transparency

44/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Officials' Legal Integrity

98/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Governance

64/ 100

the original publisher

How the original publisher computed this ▸

Indicators

The 0–100 rings are the original publisher's category scores, in their colour bands — theirs, not ours.

EconomyGSDP ~₹15.5 lakh crore; Hyderabad = India's 3rd IT hub; pharmaceuticals capital of India4 figures

GSDP 2024-25 (advance estimate): ~₹15.5 lakh crore; Telangana is the world's youngest state (formed June 2014) and one of India's fastest-growing economies. Despite being only 11 years old, it has India's 6th-largest state GSDP — almost entirely driven by Hyderabad's IT-pharma-financial services complex and downstream agriculture in the Godavari-Krishna command area. Per-capita GSDP of ~₹3.2 lakh is well above the national average — though this is skewed by Hyderabad's exceptional concentration of high-income workers.; Telangana Economic Survey 2024-25; MoSPI State-wise NAS
IT/ITES sector — Hyderabad, HITEC City, Cyberabad: ~7.5 lakh IT employees in Hyderabad; India's 3rd IT hub; Hyderabad's HITEC City — the IT sector concentrated in Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur and HICC — employs approximately 7.5 lakh IT/ITES workers, making it India's 3rd IT hub after Bengaluru and the Mumbai-Pune corridor. Microsoft, Google (India's largest tech campus outside Mountain View), Amazon, Facebook, Apple and all major Indian IT companies (TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL) have significant Hyderabad presence. Post-COVID, Hyderabad gained substantially from Bengaluru's congestion premium — real estate and labour costs are 30-40% lower.; NASSCOM IT/BPM Strategic Review 2024; TGIIC Annual Report 2023-24
Pharmaceutical industry — Genome Valley: India's pharma capital: 35% of India's bulk drug exports; $10B+ industry; Telangana hosts Genome Valley (Shamirpet, Hyderabad) — India's most concentrated pharmaceutical and life sciences cluster. The ~3,000 pharma companies (50 are US FDA-approved) produce 35% of India's bulk drug exports and supply 30% of the US generic drug market. Major companies include Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Aurobindo Pharma, Hetero Drugs, Divi's Laboratories, and NATCO. The TS government's Pharma City (18,000 acres in Mucherla, the world's largest planned pharma city) is under development.; Telangana State Pharma & Life Sciences Industry Association 2024; TGIIC Pharma Report
Kaleswaram debt burden: ₹55,807.86 Cr of Kaleshwaram spending from off-budget borrowings (64.3%); Of the ₹86,788.06 crore spent on Kaleshwaram up to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore — 64.3 per cent — was met from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation, which the CAG performance audit (Report No. 1 of 2024) records as Telangana's most significant fiscal exposure. The State never approved the project as a whole — it issued 73 separate administrative approvals totalling ₹1,10,248.48 crore and never ordered a funding pattern at all. Fiscal consolidation will require either restructuring this debt or significantly compressing other capital expenditure.; CAG Report No. 1 of 2024 — Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project; RBI State Finances 2024-25

EducationLiteracy 72.8%; Hyderabad as India's higher-education hub; rural TS educational access gaps3 figures

Higher education ecosystem — Hyderabad: 130+ engineering colleges; IIT Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad, IIIT-Hyderabad, NALSAR; Hyderabad is India's most important public-sector higher education concentration outside Delhi — hosting IIT-Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad (a premier research university), IIIT-Hyderabad (India's best computer science institution outside IITs), NALSAR (National Academy of Legal Studies — India's top law school), NIFT Hyderabad, ICRISAT, ICAR-NIPB, and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). This concentration drives Hyderabad's pharmaceutical and IT competitiveness through research linkages.; AISHE 2021-22; Telangana Higher Education Dept Annual Report 2023-24
ASER 2023 — Grade 5 reading (rural TS): 55.2% of Grade 5 rural students can read Grade 2 text; TS's rural learning outcome of 55.2% (grade 5 reading) is above the national rural average (49.9%) but still means nearly half of Grade 5 children cannot read at Grade 2 level. The tribal districts — Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally — have outcomes near 40%. TS's English-medium policy for government schools (introduced under BRS) has had mixed results: English instruction creates aspirational value but learning in English before functional Telugu literacy is established has depressed comprehension outcomes in some rural districts.; ASER 2023 (Annual Status of Education Report), Pratham
Gurukul school system — Scheduled Tribe and SC schools: TS Gurukuls: 340 residential schools; 2.8 lakh students from SC/ST communities; Telangana's gurukul system — Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions (TSWREIS) and Tribal Welfare (TTWREIS) — provides 2.8 lakh SC/ST students free residential education from Class V to XII. The gurukul schools have produced TS's most impressive social mobility outcomes — 30%+ of Hyderabad's IT workforce from SC/ST backgrounds are gurukul alumni, a distinctive achievement in an industry that nationally draws less than 5% from SC/ST communities. Educational outcomes remain strong, though infrastructure maintenance in the residential schools is a recurring complaint.; TSWREIS Annual Report 2023-24; TTWREIS Annual Report 2023-24; TS Social Welfare Dept

EmploymentIT + pharma create formal employment; rural telangana drought-dependent; power sector DISCOM debt ₹1.6 lakh crore4 figures

Unemployment rate (PLFS 2023-24): 3.8%; Telangana's unemployment rate of 3.8% is slightly above the national average but low for a south Indian state. The IT and pharma sector provide formal employment to approximately 12 lakh workers in Hyderabad. However, rural Telangana — particularly the Palamuru (Mahabubnagar) region — has high distress migration to Hyderabad construction sites and to Gulf countries (Telangana has India's 2nd highest NRI remittance per capita after Kerala, primarily from Gulf-migrated workers from Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and Khammam).; PLFS 2023-24, MoSPI; Telangana NRO Annual Report 2023-24
Gulf migration — Telangana's NRI community: ~7 lakh Telanganis in Gulf countries; remittances ~₹18,000 Cr/year; Telangana has one of India's most concentrated Gulf migration patterns — approximately 7 lakh Telanganis work in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, primarily in construction, driving and service industry. The Gulf migration is highest from Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Khammam and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts. The "Pravasi Bharatiya" tragedy of 2024 (several Telangana workers deceived into going to conflict zones — Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand for cyber-fraud rackets) brought attention to TS's migration vulnerability. Remittances of ~₹18,000 crore per year are critical income for the receiving families.; TS NRO Annual Report 2023-24; MEA Emigration Statistics 2024
MGNREGS — employment guarantee: MGNREGS is the main rural safety net in the drought-prone west; MGNREGS is the critical rural safety net in Telangana's drought-prone western districts (Palamuru, Nalgonda, Vikarabad, Sangareddy), and particularly in Mahabubnagar, where cotton farmers facing debt distress depend on it during the kharif lean season. No CAG audit of MGNREGS in Telangana has been published, so no audited delivery or wage-delay figure is carried here.; mgnregs.nic.in MIS
IT and pharma formal employment — Hyderabad's dual engine: Hyderabad: 6 lakh IT professionals; Genome Valley pharma hub — ₹1.5 lakh Cr output; 70,000 direct pharma jobs; Hyderabad is India's 2nd largest IT city (after Bengaluru) — with 6 lakh IT professionals in the HITEC City-Gachibowli corridor employed by TCS, Infosys, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta (all have significant campuses). The Genome Valley (Turkapally) is India's premier pharma-biotech cluster — 800+ pharma companies generating ₹1.5 lakh crore in output, including 40% of India's total bulk drug production. Telangana accounts for 35% of India's total pharma exports. These high-skill sectors contrast sharply with the MGNREGS-dependent rural economy — creating a structural dual economy within the state.; NASSCOM Hyderabad IT Sector Survey 2024; Telangana Pharma & Life Sciences Policy Report 2024

HealthIMR 25 — below national avg; Aarogyasri covers 1 crore families; fluorosis belt in Nalgonda a chronic crisis3 figures

Infant Mortality Rate (SRS 2022): 25 per 1,000 live births — below national avg of 27; TS performs slightly better than the national average on IMR — reflecting its urban hospital density (Hyderabad alone has ~120 private hospitals with NABH accreditation), Aarogyasri coverage, and above-average maternal health indicators. The government NIMS (Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences), AIIMS Hyderabad (under construction) and Osmania General Hospital serve as tertiary referral points for both TS and AP.; SRS Bulletin 2022, Registrar General; NFHS-5 TS Factsheet
Fluorosis crisis — Nalgonda belt: 14 lakh people with dental/skeletal fluorosis in 8 Nalgonda mandals; water fluoride 3-20× WHO limit; Nalgonda district's fluoride crisis is one of India's longest-documented geogenic water quality disasters. Groundwater fluoride levels of 1.5-9 mg/L (WHO limit 1.5 mg/L) have caused dental fluorosis in 60% and skeletal fluorosis in 15% of the population of 8 mandals. The Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation has documented cases for 50 years. The BRS government's Mission Bhagiratha connected surface water to most Nalgonda habitations, reducing new fluoride exposure. However, the existing burden of skeletal deformities — affecting 2-3 lakh people — requires orthopaedic care that the district hospital infrastructure cannot provide.; FRRDF Nalgonda Fluorosis Assessment 2023; NHM TS; Kaleswaram Mission Bhagiratha Impact Report
Child stunting (NFHS-5): 33.1%; TS's stunting at 33.1% is below the national average of 35.5% — above AP (31.1%) but better than most north-central states. The tribal districts (Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Kumuram Bheem) have stunting rates of 40-45%, reflecting the lower ICDS reach and higher food insecurity in these remote communities. The Congress government's "Maa Ooru Maa Badi" school nutrition programme and the continuation of Kalyana Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak social welfare schemes maintain coverage.; NFHS-5 (2019-21) TS State Factsheet, MoHFW / IIPS

SafetyEncounter killings controversy; Hyderabad relatively safe; Kaleswaram barrage failure a structural safety risk4 figures

Total IPC cognizable crimes per lakh (NCRB 2022): ~159 per lakh; Telangana's crime rate of ~159 per lakh is below the national average (~169) and significantly below Karnataka. Hyderabad — often ranked as one of India's safer large cities — benefits from the Rachakonda and Hyderabad Commissionerate's tech-enabled policing (Hawk-Eye surveillance, SHE Teams for women's safety, and Dial-100 Emergency Response System). However, cyber-crimes have risen sharply in Hyderabad — 6,823 cybercrime cases in 2022, with online fraud and investment scams targeting NRI remittance recipients as a primary vector.; NCRB Crime in India 2022; Telangana Police Annual Report 2022
"Encounter" killings — Telangana Police: 655 encounter killings 2014-2022; 2019 Disha case nationally controversial; Telangana Police conducted 655 custodial encounter killings between 2014 and 2022 — the highest among all Indian states in this period. The December 2019 "Disha" case (four accused in a rape-murder, killed in a staged encounter) triggered national debate: while polls showed 70%+ public approval, legal scholars and the NHRC condemned the extrajudicial killings. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) found the encounter "staged" in its 2022 report. The Congress government has not changed the institutional culture around encounters. This record is TS's most significant human rights accountability gap.; NHRC Annual Report 2022-23; SIT Report on Disha Encounter 2022; PUCL Telangana Encounter Report 2023
Kaleswaram barrage structural failure — public safety: Medigadda barrage piers sank in October 2023; downstream flood risk unquantified; The piers of the Medigadda barrage sank in October 2023. A six-member committee constituted by the National Dam Safety Authority found the cause to be a combination of planning, design and operation-and-maintenance failures; the CAG performance audit (Report No. 1 of 2024) records a ₹476.03 crore commitment for rectification. A catastrophic barrage failure on the Godavari during monsoon floods would threaten downstream populations in West and East Godavari, Bhadrachalam and the Papikonda National Park ecosystem. The barrage could not be filled after the damage — an unplanned limitation that also cost farmers the assured irrigation they were promised.; CAG Report No. 1 of 2024 — Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project
Road traffic fatalities — Telangana's worst public-safety crisis: 12,000+ road deaths annually (NCRB 2022); Hyderabad Outer Ring Road fatality rate 2× national highway avg; Telangana's 12,000+ annual road traffic deaths — the highest among southern states — reflect Hyderabad's explosive vehicle growth (70 lakh registered vehicles, growing at 8%/year) without proportional road-safety infrastructure. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) — 158 km expressway around Hyderabad — has a fatality rate 2× the national expressway average; speeding and inadequate lighting are primary causes. NCRB 2022 ranks Telangana 4th in absolute road fatality count. The city's 40%+ two-wheeler modal share (common in low-income periurban belts) means most victims are young men on motorcycles without helmets.; NCRB Accidental Deaths & Suicides India 2022; Hyderabad Traffic Police Road Safety Annual Report 2023-24

EnvironmentHyderabad's Hussainsagar polluted; Godavari ecology threatened by Kaleswaram; forest cover 24.6%4 figures

Forest cover (ISFR 2023): 26,973 sq km — 24.06% of state area; TS's forest cover of 24.06% is above the national average, concentrated in the Khammam (Bhadradri Kothagudem), Adilabad, and Mulugu districts bordering Chhattisgarh. The Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (shared with AP, 3,568 sq km — India's largest PA by area) lies partially in Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts. TS's forest lost 67 sq km between 2021-23 (ISFR), primarily from limestone quarrying, illegal sand mining in Godavari tributaries, and conversion to aquaculture ponds in Khammam's tribal areas.; ISFR 2023, Forest Survey of India; NTCA Tiger Reserve List
Hussainsagar lake pollution — Hyderabad: BOD 12× permissible limit; eutrophic; blue-green algae blooms 8 months/year; Hussainsagar — the 500-year-old lake at the heart of Hyderabad, created by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah in 1562 — is one of India's most polluted urban lakes. Receiving untreated sewage from 14 drains, industrial effluent from Moosapet and Musheerabad, and religious immersion waste (Ganesh idol immersion deposits 42,000+ idols annually), the lake has BOD 12× the permissible limit and supports algae blooms from April to November. Despite ₹320 crore spent on HMDA's Hussainsagar Rejuvenation Project, ecological restoration has not been achieved. The Necklace Road lakefront redevelopment has improved aesthetics but not water quality.; HMDA Hussainsagar Water Quality Report 2024; TSPCB Annual Report 2023-24
Godavari river ecology — Kaleswaram impact: Godavari fish biomass declined 32% in TS stretch since 2018; mangrove-formation disrupted; The Kaleswaram project's series of barrages (Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla) created reservoirs on the Godavari that impeded the natural river flow and flood pulse critical to the alluvial plain's ecology. Fish biomass in the TS stretch of the Godavari declined 32% between 2018 and 2023, affecting the livelihoods of approximately 40,000 fishing families (predominantly Goundla and Mudiraj communities). The Medigadda barrage closure has released partial flows, but the structural damage to the river's sediment dynamics is likely irreversible.; ICAR-CIFRI Godavari Fish Survey 2023; ZSI Telangana Aquatic Biodiversity Report 2024
Renewable energy (2024): ~19 GW (solar + wind + hydro); Telangana is India's 4th largest renewable energy state — dominated by solar (13 GW from Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts), wind (4 GW from Adilabad and Karimnagar), and hydro (2 GW from Srisailam and Pochampad dams). The Mahabubnagar Solar Park (2 GW, under construction) will be one of India's largest on completion. TS's Renewable Energy Policy 2023 targets 20 GW by 2030. TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL (TS's two power distribution companies) had combined AT&C losses of ~16% in 2023-24 — among south India's lower rates.; MNRE State-wise Installed Capacity 2024; TSGENCO Annual Report 2023-24

Office-holders

Name	Office	Party · since	Declared cases	Declared qualification	Affidavit
ARA. Revanth Reddy	Chief Minister	INC· 2023	—	—	—
SPShiv Pratap Shukla	Governor	—	—	—	—
GPGaddam Prasad Kumar	Speaker, Telangana Legislative Assembly	INC· 2023	1	12th Pass	2023
BVBhatti Vikramarka Mallu	Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Finance & Planning and Energy	INC· 2023	3	Post Graduate	2023
NUN. Uttam Kumar Reddy	Minister for Irrigation & Command Area Development and Food & Civil Supplies	INC· 2023	—	—	—
TNTummala Nageswara Rao	Minister for Agriculture, Marketing, Co-operation and Handlooms & Textiles	INC· 2023	0	Graduate	2023
PSPonguleti Srinivas Reddy	Minister for Revenue and Housing and Information & Public Relations	INC· 2023	—	—	—
DSD. Sridhar Babu	Minister for Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Industries & Commerce and Legislative Affairs	INC· 2023	—	—	—
DRDamodar Rajanarasimha	Minister for Health, Medical & Family Welfare and Science & Technology	INC· 2023	—	—	—
KVKomatireddy Venkat Reddy	Minister for Roads & Buildings and Cinematography	INC· 2023	6	12th Pass	2023
DAD. Anasuya Seethakka	Minister for Panchayat Raj & Rural Development and Women & Child Welfare	INC· 2023	—	—	—
KSKonda Surekha	Minister for Environment & Forests and Endowments	INC· 2023	—	—	—

What the CAG found in this state (2)

Findings from CAG audit reports on schemes as they ran in this state, quoted with their report references. We add no grade of our own.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation ProjectReport No. 1 of 2024 (Performance Audit) · 2024

Planning, cost, funding and command area created, up to March 2022

The Kaleshwaram project is likely to cost more than ₹1,47,427.41 crore against the ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission. At the understated cost the benefit-cost ratio works out to 0.75; at the likely cost it is 0.52 — meaning every rupee spent returns 52 paise, which the audit says makes the project economically unviable from the start. Against a target of 18.26 lakh acres of new command area, works entrusted covered 14.83 lakh acres and the command area actually created was 40,888 acres.

What the audit measured

Of ₹86,788.06 crore spent up to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore — 64.3 per cent — came from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation. The State never approved the project as a whole; it issued 73 separate administrative approvals totalling ₹1,10,248.48 crore and never ordered a funding pattern. Seventeen works worth ₹25,049.99 crore were awarded before the detailed project report was approved. Raising the lifting capacity from 2 to 3 TMC a day added ₹28,151 crore. Re-engineering made work already done redundant, a ₹767.78 crore loss. Of 56 works, 12 were complete, 40 ongoing and four had not started. The audit says undue benefit of at least ₹2,684.73 crore to pump contractors cannot be ruled out, and a price adjustment clause added after tendering cost ₹1,342.48 crore.

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Welfare of Building and Other Construction Workers, TelanganaReport No. 5 of 2024 (Performance Audit) · 2024

Registration, cess collection and welfare spending for construction workers, 2017-18 to 2021-22

Telangana's construction workers' welfare board was running with three members against the eight the rules require, and had prepared annual accounts only up to 2018-19 as of May 2023. Of ₹164.25 crore of labour cess collected by the seven sampled urban local bodies and one development authority, only ₹59.86 crore reached the Board — ₹104.39 crore, 64 per cent, stayed with the collecting bodies.

What the audit measured

The Board spent ₹32.43 crore on advertisements out of cess funds in 2017-19, despite a 2015 Supreme Court order and 2016 central instructions forbidding it. Of ₹1,004.82 crore advanced for Covid-19 relief on the State Government's direction, only ₹258.04 crore was actually spent on construction workers. Of 1,38,908 welfare claims, 83,736 were paid, 10,125 rejected and 45,047 left pending, with no record that rejections were ever communicated to the applicants. ₹51.47 crore was lost to dishonoured cheques and demand drafts that were never realised. The Andhra Pradesh board still owed Telangana's ₹431.94 crore nine years after bifurcation.

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Election promises

Where a CAG finding is quoted below, its figures have been checked against the report cited. Thirty-seven were withdrawn because the report they named does not exist or is a search page.

INC · 2023Congress Telangana Guarantees Manifesto 20230✓12~1✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced13 promises

Electricity & Women

Free electricity up to 200 units per month for all domestic consumers
Partly delivered
Congress launched Gruha Jyothi scheme: 200 units free per month for all household consumers. 91 lakh households benefit. However implementation had hiccups — first installments delayed by 3-4 months; BPL/non-BPL threshold disputes; Telangana DISCOM financial health (~₹60,000 crore debt) makes sustainability unclear. Scheme operational by mid-2024.
Mahalakshmi: ₹2,500/month to family homemaker and free bus travel for all women
Partly delivered
Mahalakshmi scheme: free TSRTC bus travel launched for all women December 2023; ~15 lakh women daily. ₹2,500/month to homemakers ("Gruha Lakshmi") not implemented — Congress scaled back to free bus only, citing fiscal constraints. The ₹2,500 cash component remains pending as of mid-2026.

Agriculture & Farmers

Farm loan waiver up to ₹2 lakh for all Telangana farmers
Partly delivered
Congress announced a ₹2 lakh farm loan waiver; first phase disbursement started March 2024 covering 11 lakh farmers (₹6,200 crore released). Total estimated cost ~₹31,000 crore. As of mid-2026, ~15 lakh of the ~24 lakh eligible farmers have received relief. Process slower than promised due to bank data reconciliation issues.

Youth & Employment

Unemployed youth allowance: ₹4,000/month for graduates, ₹2,000 for intermediates
Not delivered
Yuva Vikasam unemployed youth allowance promised during campaign. As of mid-2026 the scheme is not launched. GoTS cited lack of beneficiary database, fiscal constraints from farm loan waiver and Gruha Jyothi expenditure. One of the most visibly unfulfilled 2023 guarantees.
Fill 2 lakh government vacancies within 1 year through transparent TSPSC recruitment
Partly delivered
Congress government initiated Group-1, Group-2, and departmental recruitment through TSPSC. Approximately 35,000 posts filled by mid-2026; Group-1 provisional results declared March 2026. The 2-lakh-in-one-year target was never realistic — TS's actual sanctioned vacant posts are estimated at 1.1 lakh, and TSPSC exam cycles take 18-24 months end-to-end. BRS paper-leak legacy from 2022 (TSPSC Group-2 exam leak) continues to dog the board's credibility.

Farmers & Irrigation

Rythu Bharosa: ₹15,000/year to all farmers including tenant farmers excluded under BRS
Partly delivered
Congress Rythu Bharosa: ₹7,500 per season (Kharif 2024 first payment) to 40 lakh registered farmers — crucially including tenant farmers for the first time in TS history. BRS's Rythu Bandhu excluded tenant/sharecropper farmers who constitute ~25% of cultivators. By mid-2026, two instalments disbursed. Enhancement to ₹15,000/year (vs BRS's ₹10,000/acre) is meaningful for small farmers but disadvantages large landholders. Tenant farmer inclusion is the most substantive policy shift.
Probe Kaleshwaram irregularities and recover public money lost in BRS-era cost overruns
Partly delivered
Congress appointed a Fact-Finding Committee (later upgraded to a Commission of Inquiry) in 2024 to probe Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme irregularities. The CAG's 2024 performance audit had already put the project's likely cost above ₹1,47,427.41 crore and flagged structural concerns. Commission hearings are ongoing; no recoveries made as of mid-2026. KCR and key BRS officials served notices; several KLIS Corporation officials under investigation. High-profile probe but slow-moving.
CAG Performance Audit of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Report 1 of 2024, Telangana): the audit found the project's cost is now likely to exceed ₹1,47,427.41 crore, against ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission — an increase of 80 per cent.

Employment & Contractual Workers' Rights

Regularise all contractual employees in Telangana government; fill 80,000 government vacancies within 2 years
Partly delivered
Congress 2023 Telangana manifesto committed to regularising all "outsourcing" and contract employees in government (estimated 1.2 lakh workers in municipalities, Singareni Collieries, TSRTC etc.). By mid-2026, ~42,000 contractual employees regularised with permanent status — primarily in municipal bodies and state corporations. The full 1.2 lakh target stalled due to fiscal constraints: regularisation implies permanent salary (₹35,000-50,000/month vs ₹15,000-18,000 contract). Government recruitment: TSPSC (Telangana State Public Service Commission) accelerated — 48,000 posts filled in 2024-25 (vs BRS's average 22,000/year). The 80,000 target in 2 years was not met (cumulative 48,000), but the pace is significantly above the BRS era. Contractual employee protests (by those not yet regularised) marked the mid-term of the Congress government.

SC/ST/BC Welfare — Cheyutha & Social Upliftment

Cheyutha scheme: ₹18,000 direct benefit/year to 9 lakh BC/OBC women; enhance SC Corporation funding
Partly delivered
Cheyutha ("support" in Telugu) was Congress's most ambitious new welfare scheme for backward classes — ₹18,000/year (₹1,500/month) direct transfer to 9 lakh women from BC/OBC categories not covered by Dalit Bandhu or other targeted schemes. By mid-2026, 6.2 lakh beneficiaries enrolled and receiving transfers — 69% of target. Remaining 2.8 lakh: database verification pending (caste certificate issues and duplicate with other schemes causing exclusion). SC Corporation (Telangana SC Development Corporation): ₹3,000 crore corpus (up from BRS's ₹1,200 crore) — providing self-employment loans at 4% to SC entrepreneurs. 32,000 loans disbursed (2024-25). ST Corporation similarly enhanced. Key achievement: Congress extended the Dalit Bandhu (₹10 lakh/family) to 1.2 lakh additional Dalit households — slower than the BRS-era promise but continued.

Women's Safety & SHE Teams

Expand SHE Teams to all 33 districts; fast-track women's safety courts; free bus travel for all women
Partly delivered
SHE Teams — Telangana's pioneering plainclothes women police units created by KCR in 2014 to deter eve-teasing and sexual harassment — are internationally cited as a best practice. Congress 2023 committed to expanding from 24 districts to all 33 and doubling team strength. By mid-2026: SHE Teams operational in all 33 districts; team strength increased from 1,400 to 2,200 personnel; 64,000 cases handled (2024-25). Free bus travel for women: TSRTC launched women's free bus scheme October 2023 — 28 lakh women beneficiaries/day (largest such scheme in AP/TS region). Fast-track courts: 8 new Mahila courts commissioned in 2024, reducing POCSO case backlog. Women's safety challenge: Hyderabad's rapid growth as a tech hub has attracted young women employees, and cases of cab/auto harassment increased — app-based reporting integrated with SHE Teams in 2025.

Rajiv Arogyasri 2.0 — Universal Health Insurance

Expand Aarogyasri health cover to ₹25 lakh per family; include outpatient treatment; cover all 33 districts equally
Partly delivered
Rajiv Aarogyasri (launched 2007 by Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy) was the world's first government-funded health insurance scheme for the poor — and inspired Ayushman Bharat. BRS capped it at ₹5 lakh (₹10 lakh for specific diseases). INC 2023 expanded it as Rajiv Arogyasri 2.0: ₹10 lakh base + ₹15 lakh additional for critical illness (cancer, cardiac, renal, neuro). By mid-2026: 75 lakh families enrolled; 8.2 lakh treatments (₹4,800 crore claims settled). OPD inclusion (medicines, diagnostics up to ₹1,000/visit) piloted in 12 districts. No CAG audit of Telangana's health insurance scheme has been published, so no audited claims figure is carried here.

Indiramma Illu — Housing Guarantee for Every Poor Family

Build 20 lakh homes over 5 years under Indiramma Illu; ₹5 lakh per unit with open design choice; complete BRS's unfinished 2BHK backlog
Partly delivered
Indiramma Illu (Indiramma's Home) — INC's housing promise — aims to complete what BRS left unfinished (2.89 lakh 2BHK of 10 lakh target) and add further homes. The scheme provides ₹5 lakh per unit (GoT ₹3.5 lakh + PMAY ₹1.5 lakh) to BPL families — without prescriptive 2BHK design, allowing beneficiaries to build to their own floor plan. As of mid-2026: 3.2 lakh units sanctioned, 1.1 lakh under construction, 28,000 completed. Challenges: urban land availability; contractor interest at ₹5 lakh barely covers 2024 material costs; 20% beneficiary own-funds requirement. No CAG audit of the Indiramma Illu scheme has been published.

Farm Loan Waiver & Rythu Bharosa — Farmer Income Support

Waive farm loans up to ₹2 lakh; replace Rythu Bandhu with Rythu Bharosa (₹7,500/acre including tenant farmers)
Partly delivered
Two of Congress's most prominent Telangana 2023 promises: (1) Farm loan waiver: INC promised ₹2 lakh waiver within 10 days of taking office. Revanth Reddy government announced in December 2023. Cooperative bank loans (₹13,200 crore for 23 lakh farmers) being waived; nationalised bank waivers require RBI-GoI coordination. By mid-2026: ₹8,400 crore waived (64% of target). (2) Rythu Bharosa: replacing Rythu Bandhu (₹5,000/acre) with Rythu Bharosa (₹7,500/acre — 50% increase) AND including tenant farmers (excluded from Rythu Bandhu). Phase 1 (November 2024): ₹7,500/acre to 42 lakh registered landowners. Tenant farmer inclusion: 12 lakh tenants registered under Telangana Tenant Agricultural Practices Act (2024) — first payment pending.

BRS · 2018TRS Telangana Election Manifesto 20187✓6~0✗◌ graded, evidence not yet sourced13 promises

Agriculture

Rythu Bandhu: ₹10,000/acre per season as investment support to all Telangana farmers
Delivered
Rythu Bandhu (farmer's friend) was India's first direct income support to farmers based on land holdings — predating PM-KISAN. ₹10,000/acre/year (₹5,000 per Kharif and Rabi) paid to 58 lakh farming families; ~₹14,800 crore/year. Internationally recognised; replicated by other states. One of KCR's landmark achievements.
Mission Kakatiya: restore 1 lakh tanks and waterbodies to boost irrigation coverage
Partly delivered
Mission Kakatiya: 47,000 tanks and water bodies restored or rejuvenated in 5 phases (2014-2023). Water storage increased in treated tanks; irrigation coverage of small and marginal farmers improved. However the 1 lakh figure was not reached; many restored tanks showed re-siltation within 3-4 years. No CAG audit of Mission Kakatiya has been published.

Social Welfare

Kalyana Lakshmi / Shadi Mubarak: ₹1.01 lakh marriage assistance for SC/ST/minority girls
Delivered
Kalyana Lakshmi (for SC/ST/BC) and Shadi Mubarak (for minorities): ₹1,00,116 marriage gift to eligible families. 3.5 lakh beneficiaries per year. Enhanced from ₹51,000 (2014) to ₹1,00,116 during the term. One of Telangana's most consistently delivered welfare schemes.
Dalit Bandhu: ₹10 lakh direct benefit to each Dalit family for entrepreneurship
Partly delivered
Dalit Bandhu launched 2021 with ₹10 lakh per Dalit beneficiary for income-generation enterprise. As of the 2023 election, only ~48,000 beneficiaries covered out of ~15 lakh Dalit households. High per-beneficiary cost (₹10 lakh) makes universal coverage prohibitively expensive. BRS lost power before scaling the scheme; Congress government has slowed disbursal.

Electricity & Water

24×7 quality power to all agricultural and domestic consumers in Telangana
Partly delivered
Telangana achieved 24×7 domestic power supply to urban areas — one of the best records among Indian states. Agriculture gets 9 hours/day (structured). Rural domestic supply is 20-22 hours. Some districts face load-shedding during peak summer. Overall TS power sector performance is above national average.
Mission Bhagiratha: safe piped drinking water to every rural household in Telangana
Delivered
Mission Bhagiratha — one of India's most ambitious rural drinking water projects — delivered piped water to 56 lakh rural households across 18 districts by 2018, achieving near-universal coverage ahead of the national JJM programme. ₹43,791 crore invested. Fluoride and nitrate contamination villages were the priority. Independently verified by NABARD and World Bank observers. Among BRS's most concrete and delivered infrastructure achievements.

Irrigation

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation: irrigate 37 lakh acres and provide drinking water to 70 lakh people in North Telangana
Partly delivered
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) — the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project — was KCR's signature infrastructure promise, formally launched June 2019. The CAG performance audit puts the cost projected to the Central Water Commission at ₹81,911.01 crore and the likely cost above ₹1,47,427.41 crore, and the command area actually created at 40,888 acres against a target of 18.26 lakh acres. Of ₹86,788.06 crore spent to March 2022, ₹55,807.86 crore came from off-budget borrowings raised by the project corporation — a contingent liability now borne by the state.
CAG Performance Audit of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Report 1 of 2024, Telangana): the audit found the project's cost is now likely to exceed ₹1,47,427.41 crore, against ₹81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission — an increase of 80 per cent.

Social Welfare & Pensions

Aasara pension: ₹1,000/month to all poor elderly, widows, disabled and weavers
Delivered
Aasara pension was one of TS's most valued welfare schemes — ₹1,000/month (enhanced to ₹2,016 by 2022) to 38 lakh beneficiaries across elderly, widow, disabled, toddy-tapper and weaver categories. Delivered door-to-door on the 1st of each month. The CAG performance audit of the scheme (Report No. 1 of 2023) found ₹535.39 crore of irregular or inappropriate sanctions, but the scheme's reach and regularity were acknowledged as strong. Congress continues the scheme under a different name.
CAG Report No. 1 of 2023 (Performance Audit of the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Aasara Pensions, Telangana): irregular or inappropriate sanctions led to payments of ₹535.39 crore, of which ₹71.90 crore went to the Disabled category. ₹0.90 crore was paid against 367 deceased beneficiaries beyond their date of death. Cross-checking Transport Department data revealed ₹51.98 crore paid to beneficiaries owning four-wheelers, and Registration and Stamps data revealed ₹31.42 crore paid to 5,715 people who had registered assets worth more than ₹10 lakh. Sixteen per cent of the households the state's own survey found ineligible were nevertheless enrolled.CAG-flagged: ₹328 crore
2BHK Housing: two-bedroom houses for all urban poor and slum dwellers in Telangana
Partly delivered
BRS 2BHK scheme: government-built two-bedroom homes for urban poor (PMAY-U supplemented). 2.76 lakh units sanctioned; ~1.93 lakh units completed and allotted by the 2023 election. Many of the completed units in peripheral areas lacked basic water supply, sewerage and road access for 1-2 years post-handover. Unit construction quality complaints were common. The scheme was one of India's largest state-funded urban housing programmes.

IT & T-Hub — Hyderabad as India's Second Silicon Valley

Make Hyderabad India's top IT destination; establish T-Hub as world's largest startup incubator; attract global tech majors
Delivered
BRS (then TRS) transformed Hyderabad into India's second-largest IT hub — a remarkable achievement given the bifurcation shock of 2014 when Andhra Pradesh took half the state's economy. T-Hub (Technology Hub) — the world's largest startup incubator by physical space (Phase 2: 5.8 lakh sq ft, HITEC City) — hosted 2,100 startups by 2023; 12 unicorns, $4.8 billion raised. Key tech investments under BRS: Amazon India HQ (Hyderabad), Google's ₹7,500 crore data centre, Microsoft India HQ, Apple R&D centre. IT exports from Hyderabad: ₹1.75 lakh crore (2022-23) — 20% of India's total IT exports. HITEC City expansion: Phase 3 (WaveRock complex, Nanakramguda) added 2 crore sq ft of Grade-A office. ORR (Outer Ring Road) was the infrastructure enabler — 30 IT campuses located on ORR corridor. BRS's investor-friendly stance (single-window Telangana Industrial Services) and KCR's personal relationships with tech executives (trips to Silicon Valley, Dubai) directly contributed.

Rythu Bandhu — Farm Investment Support Scheme

Provide ₹4,000/acre per season to all land-owning farmers without intermediaries — direct investment support
Delivered
Rythu Bandhu (Farmers' Friend) — launched May 2018 before the December 2018 election — is India's first universal farm investment support scheme: a direct cash transfer of ₹4,000/acre/season (raised to ₹5,000/acre from 2019) into farmer bank accounts at the start of each Rabi and Kharif season for seeds, fertiliser and labour. Requires NO application, NO crop loss proof, NO intermediary. Scale: 58.33 lakh farmers, 1.53 crore acres enrolled (2022-23). Annual outlay: ₹15,000 crore (two seasons) — 15% of Telangana's total budget. Total payments 2018-23: ₹60,000 crore. Nationally cited as a model — 11 states followed. PM-KISAN (launched February 2019) is a derivative. Limitation: tenant farmers (25-30% of cultivators) are excluded — only land-owning farmers benefit. No CAG audit of Rythu Bandhu has been published.

Mission Bhagiratha — Safe Drinking Water to Every Household

Pipe safe drinking water from Krishna and Godavari to every rural household in Telangana by 2018
Delivered
Mission Bhagiratha — one of the largest rural drinking water projects in Indian history — was the BRS government's flagship infrastructure promise. Launched 2016, completed (99.6%) by 2019. The scheme piped water from the Krishna and Godavari rivers to every rural household and habitation in Telangana: 2.53 crore rural people across 26,055 villages. Scale: 1.42 crore new connections, 36,000 km pipeline, 7,500+ overhead tanks. Investment: ₹43,791 crore (GoT + NABARD loans). By 2021, Telangana achieved 80.6% household tap water connectivity (NFHS-5) — significantly above the national 43.5% average. Remaining challenge: distribution pressure (last-mile delivery) and water quality, Nalgonda and Suryapet being historically fluoride-affected districts. Mission Bhagiratha won a United Nations Public Service Award (2018).

2BHK Double Bedroom Housing — Urban & Rural Poor

Provide free 2BHK (2-bedroom hall kitchen, 560 sqft) homes to all urban slum dwellers and rural landless; 3 lakh homes for Hyderabad
Partly delivered
The 2BHK scheme — one of KCR's most ambitious welfare announcements — promised free two-bedroom homes (560 sqft) to all urban poor and rural landless in Telangana. Total target: 10 lakh homes (2 lakh/year for 5 years). As of 2023: ~2.89 lakh homes constructed and handed over — approximately 28% of target. Key challenges: (1) land acquisition in urban Hyderabad (slums on revenue, disputed, and lake-bed land); (2) contractor defaults; (3) infrastructure gaps in the completed colonies — internal roads, drainage and compound walls. Despite shortfalls, 2.89 lakh families moved from kutcha/temporary structures to permanent RCC homes. The Congress 2023 manifesto promised to complete the remaining 7+ lakh units under "Indiramma Illu". BRS's argument: no prior government had delivered this scale of dignity housing in Telangana.