THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Finance Minister K Balagopal on Wednesday said that there was no direct liability on the state government in the SilverLine project. The Minister said that this was due to the fact that K-Rail, which is in charge of the project, will be raising loans from financial institutions, including foreign agencies, with state government guarantee. The minister said this while responding to the opposition during the Question Hour.

"Of the Rs 63,941 crore required for the SilverLine project, Rs 33,700 crore will be raised from financial agencies like ADB, JICA, AIIB and KFW. The DPR has been submitted to these agencies through the Union Ministry of Finance. The Railway Board, Department of Expenditure and NITI Aayog have examined the report and recommended the loan. The DPR will be recommended to financial institutions for loans only after getting clearance from the Union Ministry of Finance. Official discussions will take place only after this. The terms of the loan will be decided only by then." the minister said. However, the Minister did not give a clear answer to Ramesh Chennitha's question whether the Finance Minister had signed on the file pertaining to the state government guarantee for foreign loans.

"There is a significant reduction in the tax payable by the Centre to the State. With the GST compensation ending after June, there will be an additional loss of Rs 10,000 to 12,000 crore," the minister added.