Efforts on to revive Maharashtra economy

Maharashtra might slump into bankruptcy if it fails to adhere to fiscal discipline, the World Bank has cautioned the state, Finance Minister Jayant Patil said in the state Assembly in Mumbai on Thursday.

The ratings of few bonds for few state-owned corporations have been downgraded by some credit rating agencies due to delay in payments, he said in a written reply to a question.

Efforts to bring back state's economy on the rails are on with the state entering into an memorandum of understanding with the Centre to implement mid-term fiscal reforms programme, Patil said.

In reply to another query regarding value added tax, the minister said the state has appointed a global firm to look after the implementation of VAT.

In reply to another query by Gulabrao Patil and others, the minister admitted that the state's traditional lottery has been affected following electronic lottery of 'Khelo India Khelo.'

However, it was not possible to impose a ban on lotteries run by other states, he added.