Andhra Pradesh government appoints Rajnish Kumar as economic advisor

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh Government has appointed former SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar as its economic advisor. Rajnish Kumar will serve at the cabinet rank position for a term of two years. 

The role reportedly includes advising the state government on attracting more investments into the state, especially private investments. 

The role has been created amid rising concerns over the state's financial situation, which was badly impacted by the Covid pandemic.

Who is Rajnish Kumar?

•Rajnish Kumar had retired as the Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI) in October 2006. 

•He had later taken up assignments including being an exclusive advisor to Kotak's Special Situation Fund.

•He is currently serving as an independent non-executive director at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC Asia) .

•In his latest role as the economic advisor of the Andhra Pradesh government, Kumar would provide financial expertise required by the state in attracting investments.

Will there be a conflict of interest?

Rajnish Kumar will continue to hold on to his roles associated with private organisations while being the economic advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government. H e clarified that there would be no conflict of interest in the roles and he will continue with all his engagements. 

Andhra Pradesh gets centre's nod to borrow more

The central government had fixed a Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC) of Rs 42,472 crore for Andhra Pradesh for the year 2021-22, with a borrowing space of Rs 37,163 crore for the first nine months. 

The state has already borrowed a sum of Rs 34,058.80 crore from April to August 2021. The amount includes OMB worth Rs 14,867.60 crore.

The centre has allowed the state to raise Rs 10,500 crore through open market borrowing (OMB) for the first nine months of the ongoing financial year, giving the state a much-needed breather, as it has been facing huge financial crisis. 

With this, the centre has allowed the state a total open market borrowing (OMB) of Rs 31, 251 crore during the current fiscal year.