THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is sitting on outstanding liabilities of Rs 5.07 lakh crore and arrears worth Rs 48,733 crore inherited from the previous government, according to the white paper tabled in the assembly on Thursday.
The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) was driven by political priorities and 20 per cent of its total spending was in Kannur, the paper titled "Kerala's Fiscal Health: A Status Report" tabled in the assembly on Thursday. Kannur is regarded as the citadel of CPM, the major party in the Left Democratic Front which ruled the state from May 2016 to May 2026.
The report paints a grim picture of state finances. Committed expenditure, including salaries, pensions and interest payments, eats up 77 per cent of the government's total revenue receipts. 20.09 pc of the revenue is spent on interest payments. As a result of all these, capital expenditure has fallen to just 1.3 per cent of GSDP.
Kerala is one of the lowest spending states in the country in terms of capital expenditure.The paper reveals that the state's arrears are almost equal to its annual market borrowings. They include Rs 21,670 crore in unpaid Dearness Allowance to employees, Rs 14,387 crore in Dearness Relief arrears to pensioners and Rs 3,431 crore owed to banks and contractors.
The report, titled Kerala's Fiscal Health: A Status Report, was prepared by a committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar. Chief Minister and Finance Minister V.D. Satheesan presented it as an exercise in fiscal transparency at the start of the new government's tenure.
The accumulated losses of 132 active public sector enterprises under the state government increased from Rs 31,571 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 78,851 crore in 2024-25. The KSRTC, KSSPL and KWA accounted for 72 percent of net losses of PSEs last year.
