AHMEDABAD: Gujarat’s public debt has surged to Rs 3,77,962 crore in the financial year 2023-24 and is expected to climb to Rs 3,99,633 crore in 2024-25, according to figures presented in the state Legislative Assembly on Friday. With Gujarat’s population at six crore, this translates to an estimated debt burden of Rs 66,000 per person.The government’s reply also revealed significant repayment figures, with Rs 23,442 crore paid as interest and Rs 22,159 crore as principal in 2022-23. In 2023-24 (as per the revised estimate), interest payments rose to Rs 25,212 crore, while Rs 26,149 crore was paid toward the principal.Criticizing the BJP-led state government, the Gujarat Congress accused it of misleading the public and pushing the state into mounting debt under the guise of development.In response to a question by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar in the Assembly, the state government disclosed a sharp rise in its borrowings from financial institutions and the market. In 2022-23, Gujarat took loans worth Rs 3,463 crore from financial institutions, which more than doubled to Rs 7,000 crore in 2023-24 (revised estimate).Alongside institutional borrowing, the state’s dependence on market loans also surged, rising from Rs 43,000 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 51,000 crore in 2023-24 (revised estimates). Meanwhile, Gujarat’s central debt burden increased from Rs 5,870 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 7,634 crore in the revised estimates for 2023-24, highlighting the state’s growing financial obligations.”The Gujarat government’s policy is to drink ghee by taking on debt,” slammed Opposition Congress leader Amit Chavda, accusing the state of pushing its financial burden onto its people. “Day by day, the government’s debt is mounting, and so is the burden on six crore Gujaratis,” he said, citing official figures that peg the state’s public debt at Rs 3,77,962 crore in 2023-24.Chavda warned that the debt crisis is only worsening, with estimates for 2024-25 placing the liability at Rs 3,99,633 crore—translating to Rs 66,000 per person.”By 2025-26, the debt will skyrocket to Rs 4,55,537 crore, and in the following years, it will continue its steep rise,” he noted.”If we go by the state’s projections, Gujarat’s debt will hit Rs 5,38,651 crore by 2027-28, burdening every newborn with Rs 89,000 in liabilities,” Chavda alleged. He further claimed that the government’s financial policies primarily serve the interests of select industrialists while leaving the common people to shoulder the growing debt.
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