‘Govt’s borrowing of `17.2 lakh cr to be completed in non-disruptive manner’
New Delhi: Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur on Tuesday said the government’s planned borrowing of Rs 17.2 lakh crore in the next financial year will be carried out in a non-disruptive manner, ensuring adequate availability of funds for the private sector.
Thakur said the borrowing programme includes Rs 5.5 lakh crore towards repayments, taking net market borrowing to Rs 11.73 lakh crore, which is broadly in line with past levels.
“To that extent, we feel that it is an all right number to have. Overall, it is a big number, but a large quantum of bonds is also maturing,” she said, addressing concerns over possible crowding out of private investment.
She added that the borrowing figure is manageable and has been arrived at after careful analysis. The government has estimated gross market borrowing at Rs 14.61 lakh crore for FY26, compared with a Budget Estimate of Rs 14.82 lakh crore in the current fiscal. Market borrowings through dated securities are used to finance the fiscal deficit.
On Budget proposals related to Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Thakur said a long-standing demand of the industry has been addressed.
Amendments proposed under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) framework aim to remove operational constraints faced by AIFs, which often operate as trusts, by allowing them to transition into or function as LLPs.
She said the changes would also rationalise documentation requirements for the entry and exit of partners and provide the benefit of limited liability to AIFs operating as LLPs.
Highlighting another key Budget announcement, Thakur said allowing Persons Resident Outside India (PROIs) to invest in equity instruments through the portfolio investment scheme (PIS) route would help boost foreign currency inflows. Under the proposal, PROIs will be permitted to invest in equity shares of listed Indian companies via the PIS route.
The Budget also proposes to raise the investment limit for an individual PROI under the scheme to 10 per cent from 5 per cent, while increasing the aggregate investment limit for all individual PROIs to 24 per cent from the existing 10 per cent, as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Sunday.
