OdishaPlus Bureau
Odisha’s per capita loan burden touched Rs 18,228 as the state incurred a total debt of Rs 82,570.68 crore as of May, Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari said in the state assembly. The finance minister said this while replying to a written question of Congress MLA Narasingha Mishra in the Assembly. He said the state has been presenting a revenue surplus budget since 2005-06.
“The loans incurred by the state were spent on capital expenditure and different developmental schemes,” Pujari said.
The debt is being repaid after making requisite provisions in the state’s annual budgets. Though the state used to take loans from Government of India, NSSF (National Small Savings Fund), NABARD and GPF till 2013-14, it has been receiving loans from the open market since 2014-15. The total open market borrowing till 2018-19 stands at Rs 29,030.92 crores, the minister said.
While the state incurred a loan of Rs 3000 crore from open market in 2014-15, it increased to Rs 4472.82 in 2015-16, Rs 7620 crore in 2016-17, Rs 8438.35 in 2017-18 and Rs 5500 crore in 2018-19, the minister said. Replying to another question of BJD member Sudhir Kumar Samal, the finance minister said, there has been a shortfall of Rs 1,854 crore in central assistance with the Centre stopping eight government schemes.
Similarly, he said the state’s annual central assistance was also lesser by Rs 610 crore as the government stopped the Normal Central Assistance (NCA). Further, the minister said the state’s share in centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) also increased as the Centre changed the sharing pattern to 60:40 in place of 75:25.
