Telangana ranks fourth in Rurban mission performance

Telangana has demonstrated strong performance under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM), launched by the Government of India, securing the fourth position nationwide with a score of 91.87, as per the Ministry’s assessment on January 25, 2025, according to the Telangana Socio-Economic Outlook-2025.

Aim

The mission aims to develop 300 clusters of villages while preserving rural community life and ensuring access to urban-like facilities in rural India covering 34 States and UTs with the objective of bridging Rural-Urban divide.

The state government has been committed to implementing SPMRM, focusing on developing 17 tribal and non-tribal clusters covering several parts of the State with an outlay of ₹1885.11 crores. At least 70% of the total investment under SPMRM is achieved through the convergence of various Central or State government schemes. Additionally, the Ministry of Rural Development provides Critical Gap Funding (CGF), which constitutes up to 30% of the total investment. The maximum CGF allocation is ₹30 crores for non-tribal clusters and ₹15 crores for Tribal clusters.

Resources and services aim to be provided

These clusters aim to boost agriculture, tourism, animal husbandry, and fisheries sectors while providing essential services such as skill development training, agro-processing, health facilities, upgraded schools, sanitation, piped water supply, waste management, and digital citizen service centres.

Under the mission, a ‘Rurban cluster’ consists of geographically contiguous villages with a population of 25,000 to 50,000 in plain and coastal areas and 5,000 to 15,000 in desert, hilly, or tribal regions. The clusters are formed around growth centers, which could be large villages, block headquarters, or census towns, to facilitate economic transformation.

Tamil Nadu topped the national rankings with a score of 96.32, followed by Mizoram (93.96), Uttar Pradesh (92.37), and Telangana (91.87). Telangana’s Rurban clusters follow administrative convergence by aligning with Gram Panchayats within a single block or tehsil for better governance and efficiency.