Another set back by Centre: Rs 2,300 crore cut on Punjab’s debt limit
In yet another financial setback, the Centre has reduced Punjab’s borrowing limit by about Rs 2,300 crore. The Union Finance Ministry has this time cited the fiscal deficit of Rs 4700 crore of Powercom for the year 2022-23.
The Centre has asked the state government to bear 50 per cent of the burden of this fiscal deficit, under which the state’s sanctioned borrowing limit for the year 2023-24 will be reduced by Rs 2,300 crore.
The Union Finance Ministry has apprised the Punjab government about this and the state’s borrowing limit for the year 2023-24 is Rs 45,730.35 crore, which will now be reduced by Rs 2,300 crore. The cut is going to present a new challenge for the state, which is already struggling with financial crisis. The new central letter has created quite a stir in the state finance department as the state is already short of resources.
Earlier, the central government had imposed a cut of Rs 18,000 crore on the state’s debt limit in lieu of the old pension scheme, which was later restored. It may be recalled that POWERCOM had joined the Central Ujjwal Discom Assurance Scheme in 2015-16 under which POWERCOM had taken a loan of Rs 15,628 crore while a loan of Rs 5,210 crore was to be issued as state-guaranteed bonds.