‘Punjab is in deep debt lure resulting from earlier regimes’, says state authorities’s White Paper

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The Bhagwant Mann authorities in Punjab on Saturday admitted the state is being pushed deeper right into a debt lure in a White Paper tabled within the Assembly, however sought guilty the earlier governments for the financial morass.

The economies of fairly a number of state governments are beneath related stress, however it is just Punjab that has accepted it upfront. Just final week, the RBI had warned that the economies of Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and Bihar are in serious trouble. But Kerala sought to rebut it.

Punjab’s debt has spiraled to 2.63 lakh crore and the state has Rs 24,351.29 crore value liabilities to service within the fast time period, the doc stated, warning of an impending disaster. “The current debt indicators of the state are probably the worst in the country, pushing it deeper into a debt trap,” it claimed. The White Paper was tabled by state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on the second day of ongoing finances session.

It quantified the present debt as a whopping 45.88 per cent of the state GDP. Debt ballooned 44.23 per cent within the final 5 years at a compounded annual progress fee of seven.6 per cent, it added. Pointing fingers on the earlier Congress authorities, it stated they left a right away and medium-term legal responsibility of Rs 24,351.29 crore. Of that quantity, Rs 13,759 crore will go in the direction of non-payment of arrears of the sixth pay fee and Rs 7,117.86 crore for energy subsidy arrears.

Besides, the share of central taxes plus grants from the Centre, which was 24 per cent of whole income receipts in 2011-12, has doubled to 46 per cent in 2021-22. This comes because the state’s tax income as a proportion of whole income receipts decreased from 72 per cent to 48 per cent throughout the identical interval.

With the GST compensation regime ending in June, the state authorities could be staring down a giant gap in its funds to the tune of Rs 14,000-15,000 crore in 2022-23 itself, the doc identified.

Total excellent debt: Rs 2,63,265 crore

How it ballooned

1980-81 – Rs 1,009 crore

2011-12 – Rs 83,099 crore

2021-22 – Rs 2,63,265 crore