Finance departments asked to buy bonds of unused funds
When a project is sanctioned by the state or central government, funds are transferred to the concerned department, said sources.
Mumbai: Due to a financial crunch, the government is exploring the option of utilising the funds lying pending with the departments. The finance department will ask all state departments to invest the unutilised amount in state government bonds, said state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar. Funds worth more than Rs 70,000 crore are lying with departments and 35 corporations of the state for various projects.
The department has been tracking various resources to raise funds since the last one year and came to know that over Rs 70,000 crore can be taken from the departments and corporation.
These funds have accumulated with them since the last many years. When a project is sanctioned by the state or central government, funds are transferred to the concerned department, said sources. However, sometimes due to reasons like permissions of the environment or forest department, court cases and agitation by people, among other things, the projects get delayed and the money is left unutilised.
The finance department will ask the departments to invest the unutilised funds in government bonds for one, three or five years, for which they can also earn interest and the government can utilise those funds in the meantime, said Mr Mungantiwar