Executive Summary:
This document presents the Indian government's response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4004 regarding the debt and liabilities of state governments as of March 31, 2025. It includes data on state-wise debt, GSDP ratios, a comparison of state and central government debt-to-GDP ratios over the last five years, and details of off-budget borrowings by states. The information is based on data published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Key Points / Main Content:
* **Debt and Liabilities:**
* The estimated combined liabilities of the Central and State Governments as on March 31, 2025, are Rs. 2,67,35,462 Crore.
* State-wise debt and liabilities as of March 31, 2025, along with debt-to-GSDP ratios, are detailed in Annexure I.
* **Debt-to-GDP Ratio Comparison:**
* A table compares the Debt to GDP ratio of the Central Government and the Debt to GSDP ratio of all States/Union Territories with Legislatures for the last five years (2019-20 to 2023-24).
* In 2023-24 (Revised Estimates), the States and UTs ratio was 28.5% and the Central Government ratio was 58.1%.
* **Off-Budget Borrowings:**
* The Ministry of Finance has taken note of off-budget borrowings by some State Public Sector companies/SPVs.
* Since March 2022, borrowings by State Public Sector companies/corporations, SPVs, and other equivalent instruments serviced from the State Budgets and/or by assignment of taxes/cess or any other States revenue, are considered as Borrowings made by the State itself for the purpose of issuing consent under Article 293(3) of the Constitution of India.
* Off-budget borrowings declared by States since 2021-22 are provided in Annexure II.
* **Fiscal Responsibility:**
* All States have enacted their Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
* Compliance with the State FRBM Act is monitored by the respective State Legislatures.
Impact Analysis:
* **State Governments:**
* *Impact:* Their borrowing capacity is directly affected by the inclusion of off-budget borrowings in the calculation of their Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC). Their fiscal responsibility is under scrutiny by their respective State Legislatures.
* *Action Required:* States need to declare and account for all off-budget borrowings.
* **Central Government (Ministry of Finance):**
* *Impact:* Responsible for monitoring and regulating the borrowing activities of state governments to ensure fiscal prudence and compliance with constitutional provisions.
* *Action Required:* Continue monitoring state government finances and off-budget borrowings to ensure compliance with Article 293(3) of the Constitution of India.
* **Reserve Bank of India (RBI):**
* *Impact:* The RBI provides data and analysis on state finances, which is used by the government for policy decisions.
* *Action Required:* Continue to publish data on state finances, including debt and liabilities.
Key Entities Referenced
Reserve Bank of India: The central bank of India, which publishes data on state finances and liabilities.
Gross State Domestic Product: GSDP; used as a measure of the size and health of state economies and is used to calculate debt-to-GSDP ratios.
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act: FRBM Act; legislation enacted by states to promote fiscal discipline and manage debt levels.
Ministry of Finance: The Indian government ministry responsible for financial matters, including monitoring state finances.
Arunachal Pradesh: A state in India with an estimated Debt-to-GSDP ratio of 57.0 as on March 31, 2025.
Punjab: A state in India with an estimated Debt-to-GSDP ratio of 46.6 as on March 31, 2025.
Telangana: A state in India that declared significant off-budget borrowings.
Constitution of India: The supreme law of India, Article 293(3) relates to state borrowings and government consent.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4004
TO BE ANSWERED ON MONDAY, 18th August, 2025
27 SRAVANA, 1947 (SAKA)
DEBT AND LIABILITIES OF STATES
4004. SHRI SUNIL BOSE :
Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:
(a) the quantum of debt and other liabilities of the Government and State Governments
along with the total combined debt and liabilities of all the States as on March 31,
2025, State-wise;
(b) the details of the five States in the country which have the highest and the lowest
debt-to GSDP ratio, respectively;
(c) the manner in which the combined debt-to-GDP ratio of all States compares to that
of the Government during the last five years; and
(d) whether the Government has conducted any assessment of the impact of off-budget
borrowings and contingent liabilities on State finances, if so, the details thereof and
if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (b) As per the information published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in “State
Finances: A Study of Budgets”, the estimated ‘debt & other liabilities’ of all State
Governments and State wise ‘debt to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio’ in
descending order as on March 31, 2025 are given in Annexure-I.As per the information provided by RBI, the estimated combined liabilities of the Central &
State Governments as on March 31, 2025 is Rs. 2,67,35,462 Crore.
(c) The comparison of Debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of the Central
Government and Debt to GSDP ratio of all States & Union Territories (UTs) with Legislature
for the last five years is given in Table below:
(in percent)
2023-24
Year 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
(Revised Estimates)
States and UTs 26.6 31.0 29.1 28.2 28.5
Central
52.3 61.4 58.8 57.9 58.1
Government
(d) All States have enacted their Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
Compliance to the State FRBM Act is monitored by the respective State Legislatures.
Instances of off-budget borrowings by certain State Public Sector companies, Special Purpose
vehicles (SPVs) and other equivalent instruments, where principal and/or interest are to be
serviced out of the State Budgets, had come to the notice of the Ministry of Finance.
Considering the effect of bypassing the Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC) of the States by such
borrowings, it was decided and communicated to the States in March 2022 that borrowings
by State Public Sector companies/corporations, Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and other
equivalent instruments, where principal and/or interest are to be serviced out of the State
Budgets and/or by assignment of taxes/cess or any other State’s revenue, shall be considered
as Borrowings made by the State itself for the purpose of issuing the consent under Article
293(3) of the Constitution of India. The off-budget borrowings declared by States since 2021-
22 are given in Annexure-II.
*****Annexure-I referred to for the answer of part (a) to (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred
question no. 4004 for 18.08.2025
Estimated outstanding liabilities of all State Governments and Debt to GSDP ratio in
descending order as on March 31, 2025
Estimated outstanding
Sl. Liabilities Debt-to GSDP ratio
No. States (Rs. in crore) (in percent)
1 Arunachal Pradesh 25,464 57.0
2 Punjab 3,78,453 46.6
3 Himachal Pradesh 1,02,594 45.2
4 Nagaland 20,197 40.0
5 Meghalaya 23,145 39.0
6 West Bengal 7,14,196 38.0
7 Bihar 3,61,522 37.3
8 Kerala 4,71,091 36.8
9 Manipur 19,917 36.7
10 Rajasthan 6,37,035 35.8
11 Sikkim 19,038 35.0
12 Andhra Pradesh 5,62,557 34.7
13 Uttar Pradesh 8,57,844 31.8
14 Madhya Pradesh 4,80,976 31.6
15 Mizoram 14,201 31.6
16 Haryana 3,69,242 30.4
17 Tamil Nadu 9,55,691 30.3
18 Goa 35,724 30.2
19 Chhattisgarh 1,63,266 29.1
20 Tripura 26,607 27.9
21 Assam 1,77,983 27.5
22 Jharkhand 1,34,867 26.6
23 Karnataka 7,25,456 26.5
24 Telangana 4,42,298 26.2
25 Uttarakhand 95,408 24.2
26 Maharashtra 8,12,068 19.0
27 Gujarat 4,94,436 17.9
28 Odisha 1,54,960 16.3Annexure-II referred to for the answer of part (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred question no.
4004 for 18.08.2025
Year wise details of Off-Budget Borrowings declared by State Governments
(Rs. in crore)
Sl. No. State 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
1 Andhra Pradesh 6,288 1,976 613 -
2 Arunachal Pradesh - - - -
3 Assam 239 853 1,102 542
4 Bihar 520 687 53 -
5 Chhattisgarh 618 2,283 780 584
6 Goa 77 - - -
7 Gujarat - - - -
8 Haryana 21 22 - -
9 Himachal Pradesh - - - -
10 Jharkhand - - - -
11 Karnataka 2,350 4,029 - 5,438
12 Kerala 14,312 6,709 4,688 983
13 Madhya Pradesh 533 564 374 568
14 Maharashtra - 2,500 7,700 13,990
15 Manipur - 293 228 109
16 Meghalaya - 64 6 12
17 Mizoram - - - -
18 Nagaland - - 39 -
19 Odisha - - - -
20 Punjab 770 484 1,675 4
21 Rajasthan - - - -
22 Sikkim 454 121 - -
23 Tamil Nadu 595 1,121 1,560 28
24 Telangana 35,258 9,597 2,546 2,697
25 Tripura - - - -
26 Uttar Pradesh 3,951 3,488 - -
27 Uttarakhand - - - -
28 West Bengal 1,089 1,089 - -