Himachal govt raised loans worth Rs 21,366 crore in last 20 months: CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu

Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Friday informed that the Himachal Pradesh government has raised Rs 21,366 crore in loans in the past 20 months and repaid Rs 5,856 crore.

In a written reply to BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma, CM Sukhu informed the Assembly that the net loan raised by the government is Rs 15,502 crore. He further said that the government raised loans amounting to Rs 6,897 crore from December 15, 2022, to March 31, 2023, loan of Rs 10,521 crore in 2023-24, and Rs 3,948 crore between April 1, 2024, to July 31, 2024.

The government repaid Rs 1,097 crore in 2022-23, Rs 3,481 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 1,286 crore in 2024-25 and thus the net borrowing stood at Rs 15,502 crore, he added.

According to the information, the net borrowing raised by the government was Rs 5,800 crore in the last three and half months of 2022-23, Rs 7,040 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 2,662 crore in 2024-25.

Earlier on Thursday during the Assembly session, CM Sukhu said that the financial condition of the state is not good.

"The financial condition of the state is not good. There are many reasons for this. The Revenue deficit grant, which was Rs 8,058 crore, has been reduced to Rs 6258 crore. Next year, in 2025-26 it will be further reduced by Rs 3000 crore to Rs 3257 crore", the statement read.

The Chief Minister claimed that out of the about Rs 9042 crore of PDNA, the central government has not sent any amount to the state. The statement mentioned the amount for the NPS contribution from the PDRDA has not reached the state government. Moreover, the CM claimed that the GST compensation for the state has been stopped after 2022. "NPS contribution of around Rs 9,200 crore from the PFRDA has not been received from the Union government. GST compensation has been stopped since 2022, and because of that around Rs 2500-3000 has been reduced for the state. Because of OPS, the state's borrowing has been reduced by around Rs 2000 crore too. It is not easy to get ahead of these problems," the statement read.

The Chief Minister had also hit out against the previous BJP state government, saying, "The state's situation is not good, and if anyone is responsible for this, it is the previous BJP government. They had received around Rs 10,000 crore from the revenue deficit grant according to the 15 Finance Commission, and since then this grant has been reducing."