Kerala has urged the Centre to exclude the share of cost borne by it for acquiring the land needed for widening national highways from its annual borrowing limit.
The State has spent ₹5,580 crore so far on this account. But as this expenditure is made through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the Union Finance Ministry has deemed it to be part of the State’s borrowing limit.
Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal, who met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Saturday, informed her that this has resulted in a scenario where the State spends money on the land acquisition, but faces a cut in its annual borrowing limit because of it.