By Firstdespatch Desk Mar 11, 2025
Agartala, Mar 11 (FD) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha stated that putting a cap on borrowing is to hamper the implementation of the big projects in the state and asked the centre to withdraw the cap on borrowing.
The centre has allowed Rs. 4,000 crore for borrowing by Tripura as part of managing fiscal discipline for next three years, which he feels a meager amount to effectively manage the big projects in the state.
Speaking in an event at Udaipur, the headquarters of Gomati district, Saha said, “We are facing scarcity of funds, especially in running big projects. When our last year’s budget was 27,800 crores, we had only Rs. 10,000 in hands after meeting the non-plan expenditures like salary, pension and interests of the loans”.
Of the Rs. 10, 000 crores, 25% goes to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), home to the tribals, who constitute one third of the state’s population and 10% goes to the urban local bodies.
“Unless the centre withdraws the cap for borrowing it is difficult for us to take up the big projects. The investors are coming to the state to set up business here. So we have already spoken to the central government and hopeful that they would do something positive”, he said.
The state has signed 87 Memorandum of Understandings worth Rs. 3,700 crores in a business summit held here recently.
He said, tourism is a viable sector to boost the state’s economy and the state is successfully turning its eye to this sector, he said.
“We have to seriously move towards promoting tourism depending on the nature and all sorts of tourism. There is scope for adventure tourism, religious tourism and many other forms of tourism”, Saha said.
He said, Tripureswari temple is a famous temple being a part of the 51 Shakti peeths in the country.
“When people in Odisha can always chant jai Jagannath, we people being in this state can also chant Jai Tripureswari to make it more popularized”, he added. FD JK