West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra and CPI(M) member and Leader of the Opposition Surya Kant Mishra on Tuesday differed on the amount of debt piled up during 34 years of Left Front rule and the quantum likely to accumulate during the first five years of Trinamool rule.
Replying to a question in the Assembly raised by Mishra about the quantum of market borrowings during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-14 of Trinamool regime, Mitra said that the amount was Rs 63,400 crore. Mitra said 92% of this amount was spent on repaying the principal amount and interest for loans taken during the previous Left Front regime.
To this, Mishra said earlier the Finance Minister had informed the Assembly that the amount of debt accumulated during 34 years of Left Front rule was Rs 1.87 lakh crore. But during the TMC rule which started from May 2011, the incremental debt was Rs 1.11 lakh crore, he said, indicating that proportionate loan taken during the Trinamool regime was much higher. He added revenue growth was also falling and the entry tax which was levied by the present government could not be implemented.