The State’s loan stood at Rs 76,428.41 crore by July 31, 2018 and the per-head loan was Rs 16,451 by end of 2017-18.
This was revealed from information furnished by Finance Minister Shashi Bhushan Behera in the State Assembly in response to a question of BJP MLA Dilip Ray on Monday.
The Minister informed that the Government’s loan burden was Rs 36,430.54 crore in 2008-09, which was increased to Rs 39,136.91 crore by the end of 2010-11 and to Rs 73,864.66 crore by end of 2017-18.
Earlier, the Government had stated that the Odisha Government’s loan burden was Rs 3870.84 crore by end of 1989-90 and that was increased to Rs 7957.86 crore by end of 1994-95 and to Rs 18,100.78 crore by end of 1999-2000 and then to Rs 34,051.18 crore by end of 2004-05.
However, the State Government has claimed that the State’s loan burden has remained within the limits fixed under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.
In his reaction, Ray said, “If the State Government doesn’t become conscious in incurring loans, the loan burden might increase to Rs 92,000 crore by this year end and to Rs 1 lakh crore by the next fiscal.”