Kerala govt's liabilities pegged at Rs 31,800 crore

Thiruvananthapuram: Various corporations, public sector undertakings and semi-government institutions in Kerala have availed loans to the tune of Rs 31,800 crore, according to the year-end report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

The State government will be responsible for the loans under the Guarantees Act if the borrowers fail to repay.

The CAG has included loans availed by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and K-Rail in the government's account. This would affect the loans the government has been planning to raise via KIIFB and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) for the SilverLine project.

The Centre, meanwhile, has warned Kerala that the loan amount availed with the government's guarantee would be slashed from the State's total loan capacity of Rs 32,435 crore for the current financial year.

If the borrowings by other undertakings, too, are added to the State's credit, and the Centre slashes the amount from Kerala's total loan capacity, the State could avail only a loan of Rs 1,000 crore during the current fiscal.

Kerala has requested the Centre not to include such loans in the State's liability account. According to budget estimates, the State would have an outstanding debt of over 3.25 lakh crore.

The CAG report prepared on March 31 has provided a break-up of loans raised by various institutions. The Kerala State Financial Enterprises has a debt of Rs 12,974 crore, Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Rs 5,830 crore, KSRTC Rs 3,178 crore, Kerala Urban and Rural Development Finance Corporation Rs 3,054 crore, Social Security Pension Limited Rs 1,773, Kochi Metro Rs 1,110 crore, Backward Classes Development Corporation Rs 1,078 crore, Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) Rs 832 crore and KIIFB Rs 550 crore.