The State government is faced with a challenging task of raising financial resources for repayment of principal and interest on loans obtained from different financial institutions for the much-publicised Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project.
The State, the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited (KIPCL) said, raised loans amounting to ₹87,449.16 crore for the project of which, ₹71,713.67 crore has been disbursed. With repayment of the principal and interest of the loans starting in 2002, the State had so far repaid ₹22,511.98 crore interest and principal of ₹8,324.96 crore.
In reply to a query under RTI, the corporation aid the government is still to pay principal of ₹63,388.71 crore and the interest component is pegged at ₹43,883 crore taking the total to ₹1.07 lakh crore. The government obtained high interest loans of over 10% from the PFC and REC with repayment of majority of the loans ending by 2035, according to the information given by the corporation.
This would mean that the government should set aside almost ₹10,000 crore every year for the next 10 financial years for repayment of principal and interest of loans obtained for the Kaleshwaram project alone. The State is already struggling to raise resources for meeting its immediate commitments, including the implementation of six guarantees, while it has to take steps to provide funds to farmers under the farmers investment support scheme, Rythu Bharosa, at ₹15,000 an acre every year.
Coupled with this is the payment of principal and interest for the loans obtained in the name of corporations like KIPCL and Mission Bhagiratha. This is likely to complicate the situation further in the coming years for the government.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had expressed concern over the quantum of interest that was being paid for the loans obtained by the previous government and said the State government had initiated rectification measures to lessen the burden on the exchequer. The Chief Minister held discussions with World Bank representatives requesting them to provide low interest loans while he had urged the Union Finance Ministry to take steps to restructure some of the high interest loans that were taken by the previous government.
