NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed NK Premachandran in the Lok Sabha that Kerala's borrowing limit cannot be increased by relaxing the general conditions applicable throughout the country. She was responding to Premachandran's question of whether there will be a relaxation to increase the borrowing limit in view of the financial crisis of the state.

"The borrowing limit for all states is fixed as per the general norms of the Finance Commission. The gross borrowing limit of Kerala for the financial year 2023-24 is 47762.58 crores. Out of this, Rs 29,136.71 crore is Open Market Borrowing (OMB) while the rest is borrowing from other sources. Out of the total OMB, consent has already been given to borrow an amount of Rs 23,852 crore so far. Borrowing from other sources is resorted to by the state government from time to time as per its requirements," Nirmala Sitharaman said.

"An amount of Rs 36,231 crore has been provided to the Kerala government as Revenue Deficit Grant from 2021-22 to 2023-24 (till November 2023). Additionally, to help states enhance their capital expenditure and managing liquidity stress, the Centre is providing 50-year interest-free loan to state governments since 2020-21 under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure / Investment. An amount of Rs 2,141 crore has been released under the scheme to the state government of Kerala during FY 2021-22 and FY 2022-23," she added.