States on course to spend 29% more on capital expenditure in ongoing fiscal: Icra

18 Oct 2023 Evaluate

Icra Ratings in its latest report said that States are on course to spend 29 per cent more on capital expenditure in the ongoing fiscal, aided by additional central grants and market borrowings. It added the increased capex spending will see their debt-level in relation to their gross domestic product rising to 30 per cent from 28.9 per cent in FY23. It said the combined capital spending of 13 major states will rise 29 per cent this fiscal to Rs 6.2 lakh crore from Rs 4.8 lakh crore in FY23. However, despite the year-on-year growth, the capex spending is likely to be Rs 50,000 crore lower than the FY24 Budget estimates of Rs 6.7 lakh crore.

The ratings agency said the aggregate fiscal deficit of these states for FY24 is expected to go up by Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 8.3 lakh crore as against the budgeted estimate of Rs 7.7 lakh crore. With revenue likely to trail budgeted targets, revenue and fiscal deficits of these states are expected to be Rs 2.1 lakh crore and Rs 8.3 lakh crore, respectively, exceeding the FY24 Budget estimates of Rs 1.4 lakh crore and Rs 7.7 lakh crore, respectively. This will push up the leverage levels - debt and guarantees - of these states to 30 per cent of their gross state domestic product (GSDP) in FY24 from 28.9 per cent in FY23. 

Some of these 13 states have adequate funds to complete 90-100 per cent of their budgeted capex in FY24, while only a few of them have to compress their capex by a sizeable extent, such as Punjab. Notably, some states' net borrowing ceiling for FY24 will be adjusted by the Centre on account of their incremental off-budget borrowings in FY22. The agency sees the combined revenue deficit of these 13 states to come in at Rs 2.1 lakh crore, higher than Rs 1.4 lakh crore in the FY24 budget estimates and nearly twice as high as the Rs 1.1 lakh crore in FY23.

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