A day after doling out ₹44,762 crore for free ration to poor, the government on Thursday cut its market borrowing target for the current fiscal by ₹10,000 crore in signs of buoyant tax collections.
In a statement, the finance ministry said the government will do total borrowing of ₹5.92 lakh crore during October-March period of the current fiscal, including from issuance of its maiden Sovereign Green Bonds of ₹16,000 crore.
The government had in Budget for 2022-23 projected a gross market borrowing of ₹14.31 lakh crore.
Of this, the government decided to borrow ₹14.21 lakh crore during 2022-23.
“Accordingly, the balance amount of ₹5.92 lakh crore (41.7 per cent of ₹14.21 lakh crore) is planned to be borrowed in the second half of the fiscal year 2022-23 through dated securities, including ₹16,000 crore through issuance of Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) as per the announcement made in the Union Budget 2022-23,” it said.
The government will continue to exercise greenshoe option to retain an additional subscription of up to ₹2,000 crore against each of the securities indicated in the auction notification.
The amount raised through this option will be limited to 3 to 5 per cent of the gross issuance for second half and within the gross borrowing limit for the 2022-23.
The gross direct tax collections till September 17 grew 30 per cent to over ₹8.36 lakh crore.
