Ration card mobility reform: Five states allowed to borrow Rs 9,913 crore more

The Centre Thursday granted permission to five states to raise Rs 9,913 crore in additional market borrowings for implementing the one-nation-one-ration-card system, one of the four reform conditions identified for availing additional borrowing window of up to 2 per cent of GSDP in FY21.

The Union Expenditure Department has granted the additional borrowing permission to Karnataka for Rs 4,509 crore, followed by Andhra Pradesh (Rs 2,525 crore), Telangana (Rs 2,508 crore), Goa (223 crore) and Tripura (Rs 148 crore). In view of the unprecedented pandemic, the Centre, in May, allowed additional borrowing limit of up to Rs 4,27,302 crore (2 per cent of GSDP) to states for FY21. One percentage point of this is subject to implementation of four specific state level reforms, where weightage of each reform is 0.25 per cent of GSDP. The remaining additional borrowing limit of 1 percentage point was to be released in two instalments of 0.5 per cent each.—FE