Kerala govt allowed additional borrowing limit of Rs 3742 cr, bills till January will be passed

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The central government has given permission to the state to take an additional loan of Rs 3742 crores. This is included in the Rs 13,609 crore which the central government agreed to in the Supreme Court.

Rs 5000 crore was taken on Tuesday. With this, the total loan received is Rs 8742 crore. The remaining 4867 crores is in the name of power sector reforms. It has not been approved.

Procedures for Rs 3742 crore loan will be completed on March 19. The argument on the case filed by Kerala against the borrowing limit is on March 21. Kerala's demand is to sanction a loan of Rs 19,370 crore in March itself.

After receiving the loan, the finance department allowed the bills pending in the treasury to be passed in December-January. After November no bills were passed from the treasury except for salaries, pensions and essentials. Rs 1303 crore is required to pass the bills for these two months alone. These are bills including project expenses of local bodies. This does not include the bills of repair contractors as they are under discounted system. The bills are accepted on priority basis.