Patna, Nov. 28: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today revealed the first set of ?skeletons? preserved in the state?s dilapidated financial cupboard.

Modi, in charge of finance and commercial taxes, described the state?s economic health as ?almost bankrupt?, which, he said, was a result of the ?collapse of the entire system?.

Two figures, the deputy chief minister argued, would clarify the sorry state of the coffers the NDA government has inherited after 15 years of rule by Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.

First, only 21 per cent of the Rs 5,400-crore plan outlay for the current fiscal has been spent and just four months remain to spend the remaining Rs 4,200 crore or so.

Second, the state?s annual borrowings to meet its committed expenditure is to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore, while Rs 4,000 crore goes out every year for paying interest on the state?s cumulative debt.

A preliminary review Modi conducted with the finance and commercial taxes departments today brought out the disturbing picture, perhaps for the first time in such an authentic manner. But a senior IAS officer said, ?The rot has gathered over the past several years and correcting the position would be like aiming for the sky.?

?Our top priority is how to spend the remaining 80 per cent of the outlay because if we fail to do so, a big amount will lapse. There is an extra central allocation of Rs 400 crore for education and Rs 200 crore for health. If this money is not spent on time, the state will naturally slip into a disadvantageous position,? Modi pointed out. Bihar?s accumulated debts amount to Rs 40,000 crore.

The BJP leader said he was still to learn the exact cause of the ?ailment? but, at the outset, ?it looks like a crisis of implementation marred by a lengthy and defective procedure and without any monitoring system?.

Bihar has only 40,000 sales taxpayers against 1.5 lakh in Orissa. The bulk of this tax comes from the sale of petroleum products. But the sale of petrol and diesel has also ?mysteriously? declined in the past three months.

Modi said he would make the first request to none other than railway minister Lalu Prasad in his bid to mop up revenue. ?The railways do not purchase diesel anywhere in Bihar. They do so from depots located at Mughalsarai and Asansol and this system has been continuing for long. I would request the railway ministry to buy part of its requirement in Bihar and this could yield an additional revenue of up to Rs 150 crore every year,? he added.

Finance secretary P. Narayanan said a major roadblock has been the absence of ?decentralisation? in expenditures. At present, any spending above Rs 25 lakh requires the cabinet?s approval.

The government intends to change the system so that the secretary can sanction expenditure up to Rs 50 lakh, the minister up to Rs 2 crore and the departmental committee up to Rs 10 crore.

The cabinet?s nod would be required only for an amount exceeding Rs 10 crore.