Tamil Nadu Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan has released a white paper highlighting the state’s economic situation wherein he has said that the total debt burden of the state is ₹ 5.7 lakh crore.
Addressing a public meeting, the state’s finance minister while releasing the 130-page long white paper said, “The total debt burden of the state of Tamil Nadu is nearly ₹ 5.7 lakh crore.”
Making good on a poll promise, the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu released a white paper on the state’s finances, today. The report assumes significance since it comes just four days before ThiagaRajan will table the revised state budget for FY 22, on August 13. Right atop the list of highlights in the report was Tamil Nadu’s debt of Rs 5.7 lakh crore, which is 26.69 percent of its GSDP, higher than the limit of 25 percent recommended by the finance commission.
Thiagarajan pointed out that Tamil Nadu’s borrowing problem was so pronounced that the state’s own tax revenues (SOTR) had shrunk to just above 60 percent in the last fiscal. “If you look at SOTR, it was 70 percent of total revenue in FY14. It declined to 62.82 percent in FY21,” he said, “Borrowing for the right reason is not a problem, but when you borrow with no increase in revenue, it causes serious trouble.”
