West Bengal, Odisha yet to get Centre's nod for interest-free loans from capex pool

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West Bengal and Odisha are yet to receive any money from the central government from the pool of resources set aside for states' capital expenditure for the current financial year.

According to a written response to a question by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in Lok Sabha on December 19, as of December 15, the two eastern states are the only ones who have not received any such approvals.

In the Budget for 2022-23, the Centre had allocated Rs 1 lakh crore as 50-year, interest-free loans to states to help them meet their expenditure for capital projects and boost overall economic growth. This loan was part of the Centre's record capex target of Rs 7.5 lakh crore for the current financial year.

As of December 15, loans worth Rs 76,971 crore had been approved, with a total of Rs 40,979 crore being released to states, data provided by Chaudhary in Parliament today showed.

It was not clear from the data whether West Bengal and Odisha had applied for any loans at all under this special assistance scheme.

While West Bengal is eligible to get up to Rs 8,701 crore for its capex, Odisha can receive a maximum of Rs 5,542 crore.

At the other end of the spectrum is Uttar Pradesh, which has received approval for Rs 15,493 crore worth of capex loans - amounting to 88 percent of its eligible amount - with Rs 7,655 crore already released to the state.

States which have been granted approval for 75 percent or more of what they are eligible to receive include Bihar (81 percent), Madhya Pradesh (77 percent),  and Rajasthan (75 percent).