Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Payyavula Keshav has demanded that the State government explain why it is maintaining secrecy over the “guarantee” it has given and the “escrow” agreements it has entered into with various banks for obtaining ₹25,000 crore loan through the AP State Development Corporation Ltd. (APSDCL).
Releasing the copies of the government guarantee and escrow account details to the media on Thursday, Mr. Keshav said that the guarantee and escrow agreements dated November 5, 2020, had been duly signed by the Additional Secretary, Finance Department, along with the officials of the APSDCL, SBI, Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank and SBICAP Trustee Co Ltd.
Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy was keeping it a closely guarded secret, and on TV shows he had been trying hard to drive home the point that the government did not give any guarantee, Mr. Keshav said.
The Finance Minister should clarify whether these “State guarantees” for ₹25,000 crore loan had the approval of the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), he said.
‘Serious violation’
In a very serious violation, the State government had also agreed to the “waiver of sovereign guarantee,” which it had given in writing to the banks in the name of the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Keshav said.
Decrying the government’s “financial indiscipline,” Mr. Keshav said the Centre should take stock of the “financial violations.”
