'Mammoth amount went into interest repayment on debts inherited': Punjab CM responds to Governor's Rs 47,000-cr loan query

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab borrowed over Rs 47,000 crore in its one-and-a half years tenure and spent Rs 48,530 crore, including a mammoth amount of Rs 27,016 crore that went into repaying interest on debts that were inherited, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann informed Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday.  

"A mammoth amount of Rs 27,016 crore went into interest repayment on the debt which your government inherited," he said, sharing the data on the funds spent out of the borrowings.

Mann wrote that his government borrowed around Rs 47,000 crore -- Rs 32,447 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 14,660 crore from April to August 2023.

"During my tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, lingering issues left behind by previous governments were dealt with on priority... We used both debt and our own revenue resources to fund organisations or schemes ignored by my predecessors, utilised the new debt to create capital assets and undertake development activities in the state," Mann wrote.

Mann last month had urged the governor to take up the issue of the pending Rural Development Fund (RDF) amounting to Rs 5,637.40 crore with the president and the prime minister.

Purohit, in his reply, had said he learnt that the debt of Punjab rose by about Rs 50,000 crore during the AAP regime and sought details of utilisation of this "huge amount" so that he could convince the prime minister that the money was properly utilised.

The Chief Minister on Tuesday also said he was committed to honouring the rightful liabilities and servicing the debt in a timely manner while striving to mobilise resources to fund development. “Our government is working 24x7 to mobilise additional resources,” he said, sharing details of revenue receipts.

As per the data, his government recorded an increase in receipts. These included a growth of Rs 2,586 crore in GST in FY23 (Rs 18,128 crore) compared to FY22 (Rs 15,542 crore), and excise collections (Rs 8,437 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 6,157 crore in FY22). Similarly, collection through taxes on vehicles went up by Rs 315 crore and on stamps and registration by Rs 919 crore in FY23.

The CM said these additional receipts have helped immensely in making value accretive investments while initiating payment of arrears and unpaid dues including, but not limited to, the implementation of sixth pay commission, UGC scale, power subsidy arrears to PSPCL, payment of arrears of atta-dal scheme, arrears of sugarcane farmers, payment of unpaid Central Sponsored Schemes, bailout of entities like PUNSUP, Punjab State Cooperative Agricultural Development Bank Limited (PSCADB), Rural Development Board, among others.

Mann again raised the issue of the pending RDF in his letter to the Governor.

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