GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
NOTIFICATION
No. 260-F.B. Dated, Howrah, 5th June, 2024
Revised Scheme for Constitution and Administration of the Consolidated Sinking Fund of Government of West Bengal
1. Title of the Scheme
The Scheme shall be called ‘Consolidated Sinking Fund (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Fund’) Scheme’ of the Government of West Bengal (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Government’).
2. Constitution of the Fund
The Fund will be constituted by the Government of West Bengal for redeeming its outstanding liabilities.
3. Objective of the Scheme
The Fund is to be utilized as an Amortization Fund for redemption of the outstanding liabilities of the Government commencing from the financial year 2024-25.
4. Commencement of the Operation of the Scheme
The Fund shall come into force with effect from the date of notification. The operation of the Scheme is as under:
(a) The Fund shall substitute the existing fund mentioned under the extant CSF scheme adopted by the Government.
(b) The outstanding balances of the existing fund under the extant CSF Scheme as at end-March 2024 shall be transferred to the Fund.
(c) 50 per cent of the outstanding corpus held in the CSF as on March 31 of the second preceding financial year, or the amount of redemption falling due during the financial year (April – March), whichever is less, should be reckoned for arriving at the maximum eligible limit for withdrawal from the CSF during the year.
(d) The Fund shall not be utilized for any purpose other than redemption of the outstanding liabilities of the Government.
(e) The State Government can avail of short-term accommodation under Special Drawing Facility (SDF) from Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Bank’) against the collateral of investment made in CSF for meeting temporary cash flow mismatches, subject to the terms and conditions as fixed by the Bank from time to time.
(f) The outstanding liabilities is defined to comprise both internal debt and public account liabilities of the Government.
5. Contributions to the Fund
The Government should make conscious efforts towards building up the CSF corpus to five per cent of the outstanding liabilities within a span of five years. There is no ceiling on such contributions to the Fund in terms of number of times of making contributions in a year. It is open to the Government to invest in the Fund from the General Revenue at any time or from other sources such as disinvestment proceeds, at its discretion. The Government shall not fund its contribution to the Fund out of borrowings from the Reserve Bank.
6. Relationship of the Fund with General Revenues
The corpus of the Fund comprising the periodic contributions as well as the income accruing to the Fund shall be kept outside the General Revenue of the Government. The Fund shall be utilized in the manner prescribed in this Scheme.
7. Administration of the Fund
The Fund shall be administered by Central Accounts Section of the Bank at Nagpur (subject to such directions/ instructions as the Government may issue from time to time).
8. Investment of the corpus of the Fund
The accretions to the Fund shall be invested in Government of India (GOI) dated Securities, Special Securities of GOI, Treasury Bills and State Government securities of other States of such maturities as the Bank may determine from time to time in consultation with the Government.
Explanation
(a) The accretions to the Fund shall include the periodic contributions and the income accruing to the Fund from investment thereof.
(b) The Bank will make available the securities for investment by acquiring the securities from the secondary market, without loading any charge other than that indicated in paragraph 10.
9. Account Transactions
(a) The Bank would arrange to raise a debit to the account of the Government maintained with it as per the advice of the Government.
(b) The contributions to the Fund shall be invested by the Bank in Government Securities as indicated in paragraph 8 in multiples of Rs. 10,000/-.
(c) The periodic accretion to the Fund by way of interest income shall be reinvested by the Bank in a similar manner, in multiples of Rs. 10,000/-.
(d) The investments held in the Fund and maturing during currency of the scheme shall be reinvested in accordance with paragraph 8.
(e) No withdrawals will be allowed from the Fund until completion of five years from the initial date of constitution of the fund.
Explanation
(a) Withdrawals may be allowed starting from the next financial year on completion of five years from the date of constitution of the fund.
(b) The debit to Government on account of the periodic installments will be accounted under the major head 8222 (Reserve Fund). On the maturity of the loan, the balance outstanding under the head 8222 (sub-head Sinking Fund) will be credited to the head 8680 (Miscellaneous Government Account) Ledger Balance Adjustment Account.
(c) The Bank shall scroll to the Government the debit on account of investment less the incidental charges in the usual course. However, in order to ensure that the investment transactions of the Fund do not get mixed up with other transactions, these will be indicated distinctly in separate scrolls.
(d) The Bank shall arrange to collect interest on the investments and credit the same to the Fund on the due dates.
(e) On the maturity of the securities, the Bank shall arrange to redeem the securities. In case of premature disinvestment to meet the liability on account of the claims to be paid, the Bank will decide on the securities to be liquidated and sell the securities at the ruling price and credit the amount realized, less incidental charges to the Fund. If these securities are in loss, Bank may in consultation with the Government decide on the securities to be liquidated. As in the case of debit scrolls, the Bank shall use separate scrolls for the receipts.
(f) The provision for expenditure on account of the periodic contributions shall be made in the Budget of the Government under the relevant head. The extent of expenditure to be financed from the Fund shall be withdrawn from the Fund by the disposal of the investment.
(g) The Bank shall open a Current Account and Subsidiary General Ledger Account in the name of the Fund and furnish to the Government as at the end of September and March each year, a statement showing the details of investments.
10. Service charges for administration of the Fund
The Government shall pay to the Bank a commission at the rate of 1/8 per cent of one per cent on the turnover of the Fund or at the rate to be mutually decided from time to time.
11. Accounts and Audit
The accounts of the Fund and the investments shall be maintained by the Accountant General of the State in the normal course. The Bank will maintain subsidiary accounts in such manner and details as may be considered by the Government in consultation with the Accountant General.
12. Savings
The Government shall issue instructions relating to the provisions of the Scheme as may be considered from time to time to enable smooth functioning of the scheme. In case of any difficulty in the operation of any provision of Scheme, the Government may, if satisfied, relax the provisions.
By order of the Governor,
Sd/- DR. MANOJ PANT
ACS to the Government of West Bengal
Finance Department