Hyderabad: The total loans taken by the state government from June 2014 up to February are at Rs 2,41,395 crore.
Finance minister T. Harish Rao on Monday tabled the details of loans taken by the state government in the Legislative Assembly.
Data shows that the government had secured loans from the open market, small savings, Nabard, NCDC, Hudco, Power bonds/ Uday and EAP loans. As per the RBI repayment schedule, the government has to repay from 2024 to 2060.
Meanwhile, the state government on Monday amended the FRBM Act to enable additional borrowings in 2022-23.
In 2014-15, the total loans taken were Rs 9,580 crore, which increased to Rs 17,385 crore in 2015-16, Rs 32,731 crore in 2016-17, Rs 26,232 crore in 2017-18, Rs 29,319 crore in 2018-19, Rs 38,286 crore in 2019-20, Rs 44,394 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 43,648 crore till February for 2021-22.
Of the Rs 2,41,395 crore loans, the highest has been in the open market at Rs 2,18,832 crore. Other loans include Rs 7,383 crore from Nabard, Rs 133 crore from NCDC, Rs 12 crore from Hudco, Rs 8,932 crore from power bonds/Uday scheme, Rs 1,845 crore from small savings, Rs 3,168 crore from EAP & Non-plan loans and Rs 1,100 crore from other sources,.
Loans from the open market and small savings were spent on development activities, the minister said. Nabard loans were utilised for Mission Kakatiya, check dams, Mission Bhagiratha, lift irrigation schemes and construction of bridges.
NCDC loans were utilised for sheep and goat development cooperative federation for distribution of sheep and goat while Hudco loans were utilised for construction of 2BHK houses for the poor through TS Housing Corporation Ltd.
Power bods/ Uday scheme loans were utilised to bail out Discoms while EAP loans were utilised for Hussainsagar lake and catchment area improvement projects, Hyderabad outer ring road phase-I and phase-II, Telangana commune based tank management project, Telangana road sector project and water sector improvement project.
The Centre has allowed additional borrowings of Rs 1,435 crore in 2019-20 on account of lower tax devolution as a one-time special dispensation beyond the state's eligibility and also provided additional borrowings of 0.25 per cent of GSDP amounting to Rs 2,459 crore as per the finance commission recommendations.
The Centre also allowed additional borrowing of two per cent of GSDP during 2020-21 to overcome Covid-induced financial crisis amounting to Rs 17,558 crore. In 2021-22, the Centre has allowed additional borrowing of one per cent of GSDP, amounting to Rs 10,784 crore.
Having amended the FRMB Act, the state government can secure loans over and above the 3.5 per cent of GSDP limit stipulated under the Act.
