Crediting Rythu Bandhu at ₹5,000 every acre into the accounts of these farmers is likely to require in excess of ₹2,000 crore. File

The State Government has decided to raise ₹3,000 crore market borrowings through auction of securities from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The State Government has submitted an indent for raising the amount during the auction of securities to be conducted on May 7. In the process, the Government made small modifications to its borrowings calendar during the firth quarter of the current financial year. While it had indicated that it will raise ₹2,000 crore each through auction of securities on April 8 and 23, the Government reduced the figure to ₹1,500 crore each during the two auctions thereby availing space for borrowing ₹1,000 crore. The amount was adjusted for the auction on May 7 wherein the Government will raise ₹3,000 crore instead of the ₹2,000 projected in the indicative calendar of borrowings.

The development assumes significance in the light of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s assertion that his government was committed to complete crediting amounts under the Rythu Bandhu for Rabi season into the accounts of all eligible farmers by May 8. The Government had so far credited ₹5,777 crore into the accounts of 64.75 lakh farmers out of the 68.99 lakh leaving a balance close to four lakh farmers.

Crediting Rythu Bandhu at ₹5,000 every acre into the accounts of these farmers is likely to require in excess of ₹2,000 crore. At the same time, the government should also credit the amounts pertaining to social security pensions like Aasara into the accounts of eligible beneficiaries and crediting of the amounts into their accounts had started on Saturday.

The Government had accordingly revised its calendar of borrowings to ensure that there was no paucity of funds for Rythu Bandhu. The results of May 7 auction, according to the RBI, will be announced on May 7 and payment by successful bidders will be made during the banking hours on May 8 at Mumbai and at respective regional offices of the Apex Bank.

Image for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: K. PIchumani

The Telangana Government has decided to raise ₹2,000 crore open market borrowings through auction of securities.

The government has submitted an indent to this effect to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which will take up the auction process through its core banking solution e-Kuber platform on March 12. This will take the total borrowings raised by the State, starting from January 16, to ₹10,000 crore during the January-March quarter.

Interestingly, the State Government has projected to raise ₹38,234 crore during the current financial year through market borrowings and other liabilities after the Union Finance Ministry had restricted its borrowings limit. But, the borrowings by the State had crossed ₹36,000 crore mark at the end of December.

The Congress Government, which took over the reins in December, decided to seek the Centre’s intervention in ensuring that the limit of borrowings is enhanced to meet immediate financial commitments. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in January second week and explained them about the State’s financial condition.

The Central Government has subsequently allowed the State to raise ₹9,000 crore borrowings additionally during the fourth quarter. The State Government has accordingly raised ₹8,000 crore from January 16 to March 5 through auction of securities in five instalments. With the market borrowings of ₹2,000 crore proposed to be raised on March 12, the government would cross the limit of ₹9,000 crore additional borrowings allowed by the Centre.

Senior Finance officials remained tight-lipped when asked whether the Centre had permitted additional borrowings again.