Panaji

Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, on Monday said the state borrowed ₹4,148 crore in interest-free loans during the last fiscal year and remained within the limits set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM).

Speaking during Question Hour in the Goa Legislative Assembly, Sawant thanked the Government of India for extending interest-free loans to states based on reform measures following the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said Goa borrowed ₹4,148 crore under the interest-free loan scheme in the previous fiscal year and is now eligible to borrow ₹4,500 crore.

The chief minister also said that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) provided loans at interest rates ranging between 2.5 and 5 per cent for rural and industrial infrastructure development, from which the state borrowed ₹3,000 crore.

Sawant added that under market borrowings, the state was eligible to borrow ₹4,500 crore last year but borrowed only ₹2,500 crore, remaining well within the FRBM limits.

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For the current year, he said the state is eligible for market borrowing of ₹3,500 crore but plans to borrow only ₹1,000 crore.