The finance ministry has granted permission to Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to borrow an additional Rs 5,034 crore for undertaking ease of doing business reforms.

“Thus, these states have become eligible to mobilise additional financial resources and have been granted permission to raise additional Rs 5,034 crore through open market borrowings,” it said.

With this, 12 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, have undertaken the stipulated reforms to facilitate ease of doing business.

On completion of reforms facilitating ease of doing business, these 12 states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs 28,183 crore.

In view of the resource requirement to meet the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the government had in May last year enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 per cent of their GSDP. Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen centric reforms by the states.