States use off-Budget borrowing to foot power subsidy bills: CSEP

A large chunk of off-Budget borrowing by states, which own distribution companies, or discoms, are used to foot electricity subsidies, according to a study by the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).

The report, titled “The Nature and Implications of Off-Budget Borrowings in India: Centre and States”, says in 2021, the five southern states — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu — together accounted for debt worth Rs 2.34 trillion, approximately 93 per cent of the combined off-Budget borrowing by the states.