Hyderabad: The Telangana State government has sought the Centre’s approval to raise Rs 9,000 crore through the auction of bonds in the second quarter of the current fiscal (July-September 2022-23).
In the first quarter (April-June), it sought approval to raise Rs 15,000 crore, but got a nod for only Rs 7,000 crore. The state government submitted the intent to raise Rs 3,000 crore in July, Rs 3,000 crore in August and Rs 3,000 crore in September.
The Centre has already approved the request to raise Rs 3,000 crore in July, for which the auction will be held on Tuesday.
The approval for raising the sums in August and September is awaited. The state government is hopeful of getting the Centre’s approval to raise full loans for the second quarter.
In the first quarter (April-June), the Centre halted loans completely for Telangana, citing its huge off-market borrowings. Following severe objections raised by the state government and a series of meetings between the officials of the state finance department and the Union finance ministry, the Centre allowed the state to raise Rs 7,000 crore in two phases, in the last month of the first quarter.
The state government faced a severe financial crisis as the Centre stopped loans completely in April and May. The state government has sought approval to raise a total of Rs 59,000 crore in the entire fiscal, but going by the current scenario, it appears that it may get approval to raise only around Rs 30,000 crore. The state government is trying to bridge the deficit by increasing its tax and non-tax revenues, by auctioning lands.
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