Shillong, Mar 10: The state government has asked the Union Ministry of Finance that the Special Assistance to States on Capital Investment (SASCI) – a 50 years interest free loan – should not be included in the fiscal deficit calculation of the state.
Informing this during his reply to the Budget discussion on Monday, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, “We have already written to the Ministry of Finance and to AG asking them that SASCI should not be included – the money that we get from this 50 years interest free loan should not be included in the fiscal deficit calculation (This year, Meghalaya is taking Rs 2450 crore).”
“It (fiscal deficit) is at 6.0 percent as per Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) report as no direction was given to them by Ministry of Finance to not include SASCI and they (CAG) included SASCI in the calculation of debts whereas actually it should not have been,” he said adding “Union finance minister has assured me that she would be speaking to the AG and informing them that this calculation of SASCI should not be included in the loans that are taken by the state government.”
According to him, the fiscal deficit in 2023 was at 3.8 percent, in 2024 at 3.5 percent and in 2025 at 2.6% of the GSDP.
Sangma said that SASCI may be one of the best ways to fund the capital investment projects.
“Because though we are taking Rs 2450 crore today, which has to be repaid after 50 years without interest, that amount is only valued at Rs 83 crore right now. Therefore, this is a beautiful way to fund and Meghalaya is one of the most efficient states in this aspect and as I said based on the CSF that we are putting in there will be sufficient amount (Rs 5155 crore in 2075) for the then government to be able to repay back on the principal amount after 50 years,” he stated.
“That is why we reasoned with the finance ministry that this cannot be treated like a normal loan. It is a 50 year old loan and therefore they should not put in the calculation of the fiscal deficit to the GSDP and the union finance ministry has agreed to it. Of course it is a technical aspect and they are working on it. Let’s hope we come through and very soon will be able to come up with clarification from the central government side,” the CM further added.
 – a 50 years interest free loan – should not be included in the fiscal deficit calculation of the state.){kind=link}