ET: Government may borrow $9.5 billion by pledging property & shares of ITC, L&T and Axis Bank

Government plans to borrow up to Rs 50,000 crore ($9.5 billion) by pledging property and shares to bridge the budget deficit, Reuters quoted Bloomberg news agency on Thursday, citing unnamed government officials. Shares in companies such as cigarette-to-hotels group ITC, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank held by a state-controlled fund could be offered as collateral to raise the cash, Bloomberg said. The cash will be used by a newly-created fund manager to buy stock in state-run companies and help the government's Rs 40,000 crore divestment programme for the fiscal year that ends in March, it said. Revenue deficit and gross fiscal deficit of the government in April-September this fiscal were higher than that in the same period last fiscal mainly due to large refunds under direct taxes. Revenue deficit and gross fiscal deficit of the government in April-September this fiscal were higher than that in the same period last fiscal mainly due to large refunds under direct taxes. Gross tax collections during the period were reported at 39.6 per cent of Budget Estimates. These were 43.4 per cent lower than that recorded in the year ago period. In the direct taxes, corporation tax collections showed a moderate growth of 3.4 per cent due to large refunds while personal income tax increased by 17.3 per cent against budgeted growth rates of 21.5 per cent and 16.2 per cent, respectively, for FY-12. Among the major indirect taxes, collections from customs duty and service tax showed growth rates of 22.5 per cent and 37.5 per cent, respectively, during April-September 2011 as against budgeted growth rates of 15.1 per cent and 18.2 per cent. Global finance major Citigroup has said the Indian government's fiscal deficit could widen to 5.8 per cent of the GDP in 2011-12 on account of lower tax mop-up, slippage in its PSU divestment programme and the spiralling under-recoveries of oil companies. The Centre also said it will not be easy to restrict the fiscal deficit to 4.6 per cent in 2011-12 on account of uncertainty on the disinvestment front and a likely increase in subsidies, but maintained that the slippage will be minimal.