Hyderabad: In a major reprieve to the cash-strapped state government, the Centre on Friday permitted it to raise Rs 3,000 crore through auction of bonds on June 28. The government is battling to raise Rs 7,500 crore for Rythu Bandhu funds disbursal from June 28.
With latest permission, the state government will finish the first quarter of this fiscal with `7,000 crore loans against Rs 15,000 crore sought earlier— Rs 3,000 crore in April, Rs 8,000 crore in May, and Rs 4,000 crore in June.
However, the Centre refused to provide authorisation, citing the government’s sizeable off-budget borrowings and its insistence that the off-budget borrowings from the previous two fiscal years be included in the overall debt. The government vehemently opposed this.
The two-month debate between the state government and the Centre resulted in a complete suspension of the bond auction in April and May. On June 7, however, the Centre gave the state government permission to raise Rs 4,000 crore through a bond auction. The Centre again rejected the auction of bonds scheduled for June 10 and 17.
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