Maharashtra govt sells bonds worth worth Rs 11,000 crore in 5 months

Mumbai: In a bid to raise funds for various projects, the Maharashtra government has sold bonds worth Rs 11,000 crore to the public. Though the state government said that the process is routine, it has managed to sell bonds worth Rs 11,000 crore in the last five months.

According to Maharashtra’s finance department, the state government sold bonds of Rs 2,500 crore, Rs 2,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore in September, November and December 2016 respectively. In January 2017, it sold bonds worth Rs 4,000 crore.

An official from the finance department said, “The government gives 10 per cent interest rate to the people. There is a fixed time for which the bonds are sold. The money is used for the public projects. The government has assured the people that their money will be returned”. 

Criticising the Maharashtra government’s push to raise funds, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “There has to be a limit for selling bonds. The frequency shows that the state is facing revenue deficit. They have no money to pay salaries of its employees. Even during the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s first regime, the government’s finances were sustained through the selling of bonds. They had offered an 18 per cent interest rate then. Now also the government is paying high-interest rate when the state’s coffers are empty,” Mr Malik said. He also alleged that 

“one needs to probe whether the bonds are sold to the common people.”