Maharashtra taps new sources to fund loan waiver
Govt is largely banking on nontax revenue to ease the burden of waiver that is expected to reach ~32,000 crore
Already reeling under the debt of over ~4 lakh crore, Maharashtra government — which announced a loan waiver of ~30,000 crore on Sunday — has a herculean task of raising funds.
The government has started tapping sources to generate revenue and is largely vouching on non-tax revenue as the taxation has reached its saturation.
According to the rough estimates, the burden of the loan waiver is expected to reach ~32,000 crore, with the state government approving waiver for all farmers irrespective of their land holdings.
High power group of senior ministers, which is discussing the loan waiver with farmers, is also considering to rope in banks to spread loan amounts to over next five years so that it can cut down the yearly burden to ~6,000 crore.
According a senior minister who is part of the group, the government will give banks guarantee in the form of bonds with the future validity.
He claimed that many private and nationalised banks have approved the idea.
The committee of the senior bureaucrats, appointed by the government to tap the sources of revenue mobilisation, has stressed on the mobilisation of non-tax sources.
“We have reached a point of saturation in taxation on almost all the fronts. The thrust will be on collecting the taxes to their fullest by plugging leakages.
Among the identified sources, there is huge potential of revenue from the land monetisation.
For instance, redevelopment of government-owned Bandra colony may fetch us ~10,000 crore in future.
Similarly, the leased properties in Mumbai and its suburbs have potential to earn a huge amount on revision of the lease rates,” he added.
The state faced a deficit of about ~14,000 crore last fiscal owing to poor collection from major sources.