How Telangana's salary bill has balloon since KCR came to power
Telangana's monthly salary and pension bill has jumped to ₹6,000cr by 2026—a 300% rise since 2014—thanks to repeated pay hikes tied to election cycles.
These payouts, together with interest on debt, account for about 45% of the state's revenue.
Senior engineers at power companies make ₹7L a month
Senior engineers at power companies like TGGENCO and DISCOMs have been reported to make up to ₹7L a month, while a TGGENCO official says chief engineers get ₹4.5L.
Even sanitation workers in Hyderabad have seen big gains: entry-level staff earn ₹28,000 per month, regularized workers average ₹70,000, and some senior sweepers with decades of service can reach ₹2L.
Salary hikes impact budget planning
With salaries taking such a huge chunk of its budget, Telangana has had to plan carefully.
For 2025-26, the government projects a small surplus after setting aside major funds for education (₹23k crore) and welfare schemes (₹57k crore), showing just how much these wage hikes shape where money goes.