Overview
- The Sudha Pillai Committee report, tabled in the state assembly on October 15, concluded there is no case for KIIFB to continue as a fund‑raising body and recommended stopping its market borrowing.
- The panel urged a Comptroller and Auditor General performance audit of KIIFB covering 2016‑17 to 2025‑26 and recommended that the Kerala government take over KIIFB’s outstanding debt obligations.
- The committee found KIIFB’s model created large off‑budget liabilities that reduced Kerala’s borrowing space by about ₹25,932.55 crore for 2022‑23 to 2026‑27 and estimated the state will need roughly ₹70,415.54 crore through 2041‑42 to service debts and finish projects.
- The report singled out large land purchases, notably in Kannur (Kolari and Koodali), questioned approvals and high per‑acre costs, and asked that KIIFB staff and subsidiaries be redeployed under state entities for project completion.
- The findings have triggered a political fight: the UDF government says it will order probes and verify KIIFB balances, while CPI(M) leaders warn against dismantling the board and accuse the government of trying to divert KIIFB funds.