Himachal Pradesh debt has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore: Dharmani

Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani today said the debt burden of the Himachal government has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore with Centre not providing any special financial assistance to state.

Talking to media persons here today, Dharmani said the loans are being raised to meet liabilities. He said 63 per cent of the total loan amount of Rs 30,008 crore raised between December 2022 and December 2024 was used to repay old loans and only Rs 11,226 crore was left for development works.

The minister said the state took loans to fulfil obligations of the previous BJP regime as Rs 7,264 crore principal loan amount and interest of Rs 11,590 crore on earlier raised loans has been paid in the last two years. “Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu has enforced fiscal discipline to improve the finances of the state and bring investment. A sum of Rs 2,631 crore additional revenue had been generated in one year due to efficient fiscal management,” he added.

“On December 11, 2022 when Congress government was formed, we inherited a debt of Rs 75,000 crore apart from Rs 10,000 crore liabilities due to the government employees,” he said. He said it is suspiring that those who are responsible for this debt trap are trying to put the blame on the current government though the present situation is the result of their doing.

Dharmani said the BJP was making false propaganda to mislead the public for political gains. “Opposition rather than playing a constructive role is indulging in false and misleading propaganda about Himachal government misusing the loans,” he said. On the contrary, BJP leaders should urge Centre to extend special financial assistance to Himachal as the Revenue Deficit Grant has come from Rs 10,200 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 6258 crore now.

He said the Congress regime has fulfilled six guarantees and launched welfare schemes for orphan children, destitute and other economically weaker sections. “Unlike the previous BJP regime, we are not giving freebies as such subsidies have been withdrawn only from income tax payers,” he said.

“The CM has taken several harsh decisions to cut down on wasteful expenditure,” he said. Projects like the setting up of a zoological park in Kangra, expansion of Kangra airport, encouraging setting up of ropeways and roads and promotion of water sports are being undertaken to help promote tourism.