'Punjab now has the second-worst debt-to-GDP ratio in India': Congress steps up attack on AAP

Punjab now has the second-worst debt-to-GDP ratio in the country, behind only Nagaland, Congress MP Manish Tewari claimed on Thursday. He also questioned why the issue was missing from the state's political discourse.

"Punjab now has the second worst Debt to GDP Ratio in the country bettered only by Nagaland. However this does not figure in Punjab’s Political discourse anywhere and I do not think even the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has ever discussed it," Tewari wrote on X.

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CONGRESS HAS RAISED THE ISSUE BEFORE

Tewari's remarks come months after senior Congress leaders accused the AAP government of pushing Punjab deeper into debt.

In April this year, Congress MP and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa demanded that the Bhagwant Mann government release a white paper on the state's finances.

"The state government should immediately release a white paper on the state's debt and financial condition so that the public can know the truth," Randhawa had said.

He alleged that Punjab was being pushed into a "debt trap" and warned that continued borrowing could trigger a serious financial crisis. Referring to a fresh borrowing of ₹1,500 crore at the time, Randhawa claimed the state's total debt had already crossed ₹4 lakh crore and could soon touch ₹4.47 lakh crore.

He also alleged that the government was taking new loans to repay old ones, with a large share of fresh borrowings being used to service existing debt and interest payments.

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'EVERY PUNJABI CARRYING A DEBT BURDEN'

Randhawa said the debt issue directly affected ordinary people.

According to him, every Punjabi was carrying an average debt burden of more than ₹1.25 lakh. He also said a large portion of the state's budget was being spent on salaries, pensions, power subsidies and interest payments instead of development.

RAJA WARRING ALSO SOUGHT ACCOUNTABILITY

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring raised similar concerns in June after another ₹1,500 crore borrowing. He claimed Punjab's debt had risen to around ₹4.19 lakh crore and questioned how the borrowed money was being utilised.

"The issue is accountability. With Punjab's debt now standing at around ₹4.19 lakh crore, the people of Punjab deserve to know how every borrowed rupee is being spent and what returns it is generating," Warring had said.

Punjab's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2025-26 is estimated at around ₹8.91 lakh crore at current prices.

The AAP government has been in power since 2022, and the state is scheduled to go to the polls early next year.