At 43%, farm loan waiver bags lion's share in Maharashtra subsidy: CAG

The CAG report tabled in the Assembly on Friday revealed that during 2017-18, highest share of subsidy went towards implementation of farm loan waiver scheme of the Maharashtra government.

Expenditure over subsidy was Rs 20,984 crore in 2016-17, which increased by 62 per cent to Rs 33,894 crore, the CAG report said.

"Out of Rs 33,894 crore, 43 per cent was utilised for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana," said the report.

The CAG report has also threw light on increasing debt of the state, and advised the state government to work out a well-thought out debt borrowing repayment strategy to avoid falling into a debt trap.

"The liability of the state to repay the debt during the periods 2018-19, 2019-21 and 2021-23 would be Rs 23,088.93 crore, Rs 40,739.91 crore and Rs 60,921.17 crore respectively, which may put a strain on the government budget during that period. Further Rs 1,84,356.78 crore, or 56.37% of the total public debt, would be repayable within next seven years," it said.

"Therefore, the state government would have to work out a well-thought out debt borrowing repayment strategy to avoid falling into debt trap," said the report.

The report pointed out that very insignificant portion of the debt was available for developmental expenditure to promote growth.