Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the post-Budget National Executive Committee meeting of FICCI, in New Delhi on February 2, 2023. , Photo Credit: PTI
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday expressed confidence that states will sign up to avail Rs 1.3 lakh crore by early April. interest-free credit I offered them Budget 2023-24 For capital expenditure, much faster than in the current financial year.
This 50-year interest-free loan window for states forms a significant part of the government’s ambitious ₹10 lakh crore capital expenditure for the coming year, and the finance minister stressed that the plan’s outlay will only exceed the ₹10 lakh allocated this year. 1 lakh crore was raised. Because the states had shown interest.
Data related to the scheme in the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament this week shows that those funds were not fully tapped by the states. But Ms Sitharaman insisted that the utilization of these funds by states “is not at all dismal as you would have guessed from the survey.”
“There was a slight delay in its launch as states had to come up with proposals and then operationalize it… This year, it has been extended for two reasons. For one we felt there was a good appetite for more funding and to keep the scheme going. it is not possible if they [States] Didn’t imbibe it last year,” she said in a post-Budget interaction organized by FICCI.
favorite project
Further, he pointed out that a ‘good chunk’ of the ₹1.3 lakh crore loan on offer can be used by states on projects they like, while a chunk of it will be conditional and linked to projects that are not eligible for example. encourage the issuance of municipal bonds for and construction of Unity Mall in state capitals.
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“In fact, this year, we are talking through officials with the chief secretaries of the state governments to see that it moves swiftly and quickly. I strongly believe that in the month of April itself, a sufficient number of proposals should come from many states, so that unlike last year, there can be a direct release.
“A lot of discussions have already taken place with the states on the contours of the scheme, various features of the current year and whether it will be very difficult to implement, etc. That’s why all differences have been removed.
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The interest-free loan to states with a tenure of 50 years to fund capital expenditure was first introduced by the government in 2020-21 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an outlay of ₹12,000 crore. Which was increased to Rs. 15,000 crores next year.