In 2026-27, Haryana's debt liability to touch Rs 3.91 lakh crore

Haryana’s debt liability will touch Rs 3.91 lakh crore in 2026-27, with CM Nayab Singh Saini proposing to take a loan of Rs 40,148 crore. As per the revised estimates, the government loan for 2025-26 is Rs 35,457 crore.

If the state's population is 2.80 crore, a debt of Rs 3.91 lakh crore comes to Rs 1.40 lakh per person. From 1966 to 2014-15, the debt had reached Rs 70,925 crore. If it reaches Rs 3.91 lakh crore by 2026-27, over 12 years, it implies a loan of Rs 26,709 crore per year and Rs 73 crore per day.

According to the government, the overall debt stock has been contained, with the debt-to-GSDP ratio remaining at 25.68% in Revised Estimates (RE) 2025-26 against the limit of 32.5% prescribed by the 15th Finance Commission. However, for Budget Estimates (BE) 2026-27, the debt stock is expected to be higher at 25.78% of GSDP.

The government said the Centre had not prescribed any debt-to-GSDP limit for the 16th Finance Commission's award period (2026-2031).

Though the government’s debt liability is rising, Saini claimed that financial management was better under the BJP regime as compared to the Congress government. “Between 2005 and 2014, Haryana’s fiscal deficit increased from Rs 286 crore to Rs 12,586 crore — nearly a 44-fold increase. However, over the 10-year period from 2014 to 2024, the fiscal deficit increased only 2.75 times,” he said.

As per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003, a state’s fiscal deficit should remain below 3% of that year's GDP. “In 2014-15, our fiscal deficit stood at 2.88% of GDP, and in 2024-25, it declined to 2.83%. In the previous budget, I set a target of further reducing it to 2.67%. I am pleased to inform that for 2025-26, the fiscal deficit is estimated at 2.66% of GDP, which demonstrates that our government has achieved even more efficient financial management, exceeding our own targets,” he said. For 2026-27, he fixed the target to reduce it to 2.65%.

The government also claims that revenue deficit has been consistently decreasing, with 1.59% of GSDP in 2024, 1.33% in 2025-26 (revised estimates), and it is projected to come down to 0.87% in 2026-27.

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala commented, “The BJP has pushed Haryana into debt slavery — only a mountain of debt in the name of development!”