Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has spent around Rs 15,000 crore directly from the exchequer for Onam this time.

The major components were disbursal of salary, bonus and advance for government employees, disbursal of various welfare pensions for the beneficiaries for the last two months, and the money spent for giving Onam kits to all ration card holders through the public distribution system.

Apart from this spending, the State Government gave Rs 300 crore to the KSRTC for disbursing salary and pension.

The State Government had earmarked Rs 1,000 crore in the Budget this year as grant for the KSRTC. But this spending is all set to rise to Rs 1,500 crore.

The State Government has managed to find resources for meeting part of its Onam expenses this time by taking a loan of Rs 4,000 crore from the Reserve Bank of India.

Though the pay commission had recommended 10 per cent salary hike for government employees last time, the State Finance Department's assessment is that in reality the government's salary and pension commitments have witnessed a 30 per cent hike.

Besides, many projects which were announced before the last Assembly polls are now taking a heavy toll on the State exchequer.

Austerity measures on the cards

The State is likely to witness tighter financial control since there is a substantial dip in revenue on the one side and there is an unexpected increase in expenditure on the other side.

The State is estimating a slump of Rs 23,000 crore in revenue due to various adverse decisions of the Central Government such as the reduction in the State's loan availing limit, stoppage of GST compensation package and the reduction in grant meant to fill the fiscal deficit gap of the State.

The State Finance Department is now deeply worried over how to tide over the situation. So, there is all likelihood of the government going for cutting down the expenditure of many existing projects.