The Telangana Government appears to have decided to go slow on raising open market borrowings the quantum of which has been mounting every passing year.
The Government has submitted intentions of raising market borrowings of ₹30,000 crore through weekly auction of Government Securities conducted by the Reserve Bank of India for the fourth quarter. The indicative calendar of the borrowings released by the RBI for the last quarter shows that the Telangana Government has indicated that it will participate in all the weekly auctions during the three month period to raise ₹30,000 crore.
However, the Government has raised ₹13,800 crore through five auctions till March 11 and it is also not participating in the auction of securities by the RBI slated on March 18, the penultimate auction for the current fiscal year. With just one more auction left on March 25, it has to be seen how much the Government proposes to raise before the end of the fiscal.
Officials however refused to comment when asked about any specific reasons that led to cut down in borrowings. “No particular reason. Just being prudent,” was how a senior official responded.
According to the provisional figures submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the State Government has raised ₹58,586 crore in the form of borrowings and other liabilities till the end of January. The figure has increased by another ₹8,000 crore taking the total borrowings to around ₹68,000 crore by March 11 which is almost ₹19,000 crore higher than the ₹49,255 crore projected in the budget estimates of the current financial year.
Published – March 16, 2025 04:35 pm IST