Haryana’s debt to cross Rs 3 lakh crore in next fiscal

Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, February 23

The state’s debt liability is likely to cross Rs 3 lakh crore in the financial year 2024-25 and would touch Rs 3,17,982 crore (Budget Estimates). When the BJP government assumed power in the state for the first time, the state’s total debt was Rs 70,931 crore in 2014-15.

The debt during Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s first tenure swelled to Rs 1,85,463 crore in 2019-20. In the current fiscal, it will touch Rs 2,84,864 crore.

Further, the debt to GSDP (gross state domestic product) is estimated at 26 per cent in 2023-24 (Revised Estimates) while it was 16.23 per cent in 2014-15. For the next fiscal (2024-25), it has been estimated at 26.1 per cent.

Presenting the Budget, the Chief Minister said, “The overall debt stock has also been successfully contained within the prescribed limit. The debt to GSDP ratio in Revised Estimates (RE) 2023-24 is 26 per cent against the limit of 33.10 per cent of GSDP. For 2024-25, the debt stock is projected at 26.15 percent of GSD. We will continue to exercise fiscal prudence as this is the only path to sustainable economic development.”

Strategy for growth

Fiscal deficit has been contained at 2.80 per cent of the GSDP in RE 2023-24 as against the permissible limit of 3.0 per cent of the GSDP. “For 2024-25, I project a fiscal deficit of 2.77 per cent of the GSDP, which is well within the permissible limit of 3 per cent,” the CM said.

Revenue and expenditure

The CM anticipated that revenue receipts would increase by 10.26 per cent at Rs 1,16,638.90 crore, comprising tax revenue of Rs 84,551.10 crore and non-tax revenue of Rs 9,243.46. The revenue deficit would be Rs 17,817.46 crore in 2024-25 (BE) compared to Rs 13,164 crore in 2023-24 (RE). In BE 2024-25, the total expenditure has been projected to increase to Rs 1,89,876.61 crore, comprising revenue expenditure of Rs 1,34,456.36 crore (70.81%) and capital expenditure of Rs 55,420.25 crore (29.19%).

Focus on social services

A substantial 31 per cent of the total Budget has been dedicated to social services sectors such as Education (10 per cent), Social Welfare & Nutrition (7.59 per cent), Health & Family Welfare (5 per cent) and others.