West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the state?s revenue deficit amounts to over Rs 16,000 crore.
?We have got a revenue deficit of over Rs 16,000 crore from the previous government (Left Front). We have Reserve Bank of India (RBI) figures to prove it. Besides, in the last seven months, unpaid government bills amounts to Rs 3,500 crore,? Mitra told reporters here.
?We have already passed order for clearance of the bills,? he said.
Mitra said the state government will hold three meetings with the Centre to take stock of the staggering Bengal economy.
“First our officials will go to Delhi, then I will follow and finally Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister) will finalize the deal with Pranab Mukherjee (Union Finance Minister) and the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh,” he said.
Earlier, Banerjee said said the state?s Rs 1.86 lakh crore debt is her ?big? worry.
Pranab Mukherjee and Banerjee met here on Sunday along with Mitra and announced that short, medium and long term measures are being worked out to rejuvenate the state’s economy.
Banerjee took oath as the eleventh Chief Minister of West Bengal on May 20 and gained control of Writers’ Buildings, the red-painted edifice of power in the control of Left Front for 34 years.