ENA State 2024-12-24 16:40:50 <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>Hyderabad, Dec 24 (KNN)</strong> The Reserve Bank of India's latest report on State Finances - A Study of Budgets of 2024-25 has uncovered significant variations in Telangana's reported outstanding guarantees, showing figures substantially higher than previously disclosed. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">According to the RBI report released on December 19, the state's total outstanding guarantees reached Rs 2,14,705 crore by March 2023 and Rs 2,20,606 crore by March 2024.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">These figures stand in stark contrast to the state's budget document for 2023-24, presented by former Finance Minister T Harish Rao, which reported outstanding guarantees of merely Rs 38,867 crore as of January 31, 2023. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The substantial difference emerged from the previous government's practice of assigning lower risk weights to guarantees provided to various Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), Corporations, and Institutions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy highlighted this discrepancy during the recent Assembly winter session, citing the example of Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">While the previous administration reported guarantees of Rs 16,162 crore by applying a 25 percent risk weight, the actual outstanding guarantees amounted to Rs 64,651 crore.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The disparity in reporting has drawn attention from the RBI's working group on state government guarantees. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">In its report submitted on January 16, 2024, the group specifically noted that some states were under-reporting guarantee amounts by assigning risk weights significantly below 100 percent. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">In response, the working group has recommended maintaining a minimum risk weight of 100 percent for all state government guarantees.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">These outstanding guarantees are separate from the state's total outstanding liabilities, which increased from Rs 3,49,727 crore in March 2023 to Rs 3,93,286 crore by March 2024. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Following the RBI working group's recommendations, the state's 2024-25 budget now assigns 100 percent risk weights to all outstanding guarantees, providing a more accurate representation of Telangana's financial commitments.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><em><strong>(KNN Bureau)</strong></em></span></p> 40376 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/state/rbi-report-reveals-telanganas-outstanding-guarantees-far-higher-than-disclosed 2024-12-24 16:40:50 knnindia.co.in