Govt will do everything to bail out debt-ridden WB: PM

April 27, 2012 13:51

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured Trinamool Congress that the government would do everything possible to bail out debt-ridden West Bengal, as party MPs sought a three-year moratorium on interest payment.

A day after they placed their demands before Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee including restructuring of the "massive debt burden" faced by the state, a delegation of Trinamool MPs met the Prime Minister to raise the issue.

"The state is on the edge of a precipice. Its financial condition is very bad and the state government is facing grave difficulty," Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Roy said after the 15-minute meeting at Parliament House.

Quoting the latest state budget, he said the state paid around Rs 18,000 as interest and Rs 7,000 crore as loan repayment last year. Bengal's total debt was around Rs 183,000 crore last year.

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