Govt spent Rs 677 crore on various events since 2022: Yuri
Special Correspondent
Panaji: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday told the state Legislative Assembly that no borrowed money was used by the government for organising events, including different festivals, in Goa.
“We borrow money from institutions like Small Industries Development Bank of India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development only for capital expenditure,” he noted.
Sawant said Goa’s debt-to-gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio has been reduced from 30 per cent to 27 per cent, and that the government aims to bring it down further to 25 per cent.
“The state has informed the Centre about off-budget borrowings as also disallowed such borrowings by various state corporations since 2020-21,” he added, pointing out, “Goa has been presenting revenue surplus budgets since 2020-21, and remains within Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management limits.”
Sawant, who also holds the finance portfolio, told the House that it plans to avail loans worth of around Rs 4,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore, during the forthcoming financial year under the Centre’s Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme, which offers a 50-year interest-free tenure.
He further informed that the state had already utilised Rs 4,148 crore during the ongoing financial year, towards capital expenditure under the particular scheme and would continue to use such borrowings to fund infrastructure and development projects.
The Chief Minister also said the government has borrowed only Rs 1,250 crore loan from the open market, this year as against the borrowing limit of Rs 4,500 crore.
He also revealed that next year the government plans to borrow only about Rs 1,000 crore from the market, noting that Goa ranks third in fiscal management as per the assessment of the NITI Aayog.
Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas, raising in the state Legislative Assembly during the Question Hour, concerns over Goa’s rising debt and future repayment burden as also off-budget borrowings, said the state debt has doubled from 16,823 crore in 2016-17 to 35,312 crore in 2025-26, recording a rise of Rs 18,489 crore.
He further said the government needs to repay the debt amount of Rs 3,600 crore, this year, while the amount would go up to Rs 4,800 crore by 2030-31.
Viegas sought details from the government on the state’s total outstanding liabilities, repayment plans from 2026-27 onwards and the strategy of the administration to manage debt while maintaining fiscal stability.
Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao alleged that the government is spending big amounts of money on events including festivals, and claimed that the government had spent around Rs 677 crore on various events since 2022, averaging approximately Rs 47 lakh per day.
Taking a dig at the ‘Viksit Goa, Viksit Bharat’ programme attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he alleged that Rs 13 crore was spent on a 60-minute event, amounting to about 22 lakh per minute.
