FM pooh-poohs Modi's FDI claims

BATTLEFIELD GUJARAT

Rubbishing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's claims of attracting huge amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) as an "exaggeration", Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today blamed the state governance for being one of the highly indebted states in the country.

When asked by Business Standard about the tall claims made by the Gujarat government on the FDI front, Chidambaram said, "It is an exaggeration."

During his visit here to campaign for the last leg of the Assembly election, to be held on December 16, Chidambaram reasoned that more than attracting huge foreign investments, reportedly worth over Rs 5,000 crore, Gujarat had ended up with a debt burden of Rs 94,009 crore so far. Gujarat's debt burden in 2001-02 was Rs 45,301 crore.

"Gujarat is one of the six states in India which have been classified as highly indebted states. Debt as a percentage of total revenue receipts from Gujarat to the Centre has been 285 per cent. The state government is financing all its plans through borrowings and one cannot borrow beyond one's capacity," said Chidambaram.

Calling the Gujarat model of financing its governance as a "bad model", he said that not only had the Modi government been borrowing but also falling behind in many of its plans, including Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and NREG.