PSUs to raise over Rs 56,000 cr via bonds, debentures

State-owned companies led by power sector PSUs will be raising over Rs 56,000 crore debt from the money market during 2010-11, representing an increase of about 26 per cent over the current fiscal.

This will be in addition to Rs 3.45 lakh crore, which the government will be borrowing from the money market to bridge the fiscal deficit, the gap between receipts and expenditure during the next fiscal.

As per the budget papers, the power sector PSUs include NTPC and Power Grid Corporation, will be issuing bonds and debentures of over Rs 20,232 crore in 2010-11 as against Rs 14,500 crore in the current fiscal.

Although the PSUs will be raising about 26 per cent more as debt, the market borrowing of the government is slated to drop during 2010-11 to Rs 3.45 lakh crore from Rs 3.98 lakh crore in the current fiscal.

Having partially withdrawn the stimulus, the government will be focussing on raising revenue by increasing the central excise across the board by 2 percentage points and containing outgo towards fertiliser subsidy.

On account of various steps taken by the government, the fiscal deficit of the centre is slated to moderate to 5.5 per cent of the GDP from 6.7 per cent in the revised estimates for the current fiscal.