Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28: The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) triggered a sharp exchange in the Kerala Assembly on Wednesday, with Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan accusing the previous Left government of wrecking the state's finances through the board, IANS reported. Satheesan was replying to an adjournment motion moved by former Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal over the alleged stalling of KIIFB projects.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The Chief Minister told the House that KIIFB projects worth Rs 70,000 crore remained to be completed, but there was no clear plan to raise the money required. Projects worth Rs 25,000 crore had been completed and work worth Rs 31,761 crore was continuing, he said, assuring the House that the government would complete projects already started.

Rs 70,000 croreProjects still to be completed, per the Chief Minister
Rs 25,000 croreProjects completed, per the Chief Minister
Rs 31,761 croreWork continuing, per the Chief Minister
Rs 12,000 croreBorrowing capacity the CM said the state had lost

Satheesan said KIIFB had no revenue-generating projects to meet its commitments and claimed the state had lost Rs 12,000 crore in borrowing capacity after its borrowing limit was reduced. He alleged that KIIFB had functioned as a separate empire, appointing personnel and borrowing money without adequate control by the Finance Department, and said the board would now function under the department's control. These are the Chief Minister's allegations in the Assembly; the previous government has rejected the charge that it sabotaged state finances.

The figures cited in the debate broadly match the scale set out in a Kerala Assembly committee report on KIIFB, which estimated that the state will need about Rs 70,415.54 crore in the coming years to service KIIFB's debt and complete the projects it has initiated or prioritised, excluding land acquisition costs — comprising Rs 47,532.54 crore in scheduled principal and interest payments through 2041-42 and Rs 22,883 crore to complete projects.

Source: Kerala Legislative Assembly committee report on KIIFB

Turning the Opposition's corporate agenda charge back on it, Satheesan pointed out that Balagopal himself had raised objections to KIIFB borrowing when he was Finance Minister, and asked how an expert committee report could be described as a corporate agenda. He dismissed allegations that the government was sabotaging KIIFB projects and warned that those responsible for looting the state exchequer would not be spared. Balagopal strongly defended KIIFB, crediting it with transforming Kerala's infrastructure over the past decade, IANS reported.