Telangana heading towards exhausting borrowings limit for this FY set by Union Finance Ministry

Telangana Government nearing borrowing limit for this financial year set by Union Finance Ministry

Telangana Government is heading towards the borrowing limit of ₹49,255 crore fixed by the Union Finance Ministry for the current financial year.

The Government has decided to raise ₹7,400 crore through borrowings during the third quarter of the current fiscal. According to the indicative calendar of borrowings from the Reserve Bank of India, the Government has decided to raise the amount in six instalments starting with ₹2,000 crore on October 1 during the quarter. Though it had indicated that it would raise ₹1,400 crore during the auction of securities conducted by the RBI on Tuesday (October 8, 2024), the State Government did not participate in the auction.

The Government has availed off borrowings to the tune of ₹33,449 crore by the end of the July-September quarter. Borrowings at the end of the current quarter (October to December) would cross ₹40,000 crore and reach ₹40,849 croreat the end of the December if the Government borrows the indicated amount. This is against the ₹49,255 crore borrowing limit in the provisional budget estimates shown by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

This would leave the Government with an option of raising close to ₹9,000 crore in the January-March quarter, a time when the fund releases to different departments under various heads would be maximum. Funds have to be released for salaries, pension, debt servicing and others as they and cannot be carried over to the next financial year.

The Government has already been depending on financial accommodation instruments like special drawing facility and ways and means advances every month to meet its immediate requirements. For instance, it had raised ₹4,198 crore through a special drawing facility on all 31 days of August and ₹481 crore through WMA for 15 days of August, according to the RBI bulletin.

The Government is likely to face tough situation in raising finances to meet its requirements till the end of the fiscal and fund welfare schemes as growth in revenue receipts was not up to the expected levels till the end of the first half of the fiscal.