The State's total loan amount stood at Rs 38,666.24 crore by the end of 2013-14 fiscal, which accounted for a per capita loan burden of Rs 8,909 with a population of 4.34 crore during the period.Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat informed told the Assembly in a written reply to a question by Ramesh Chandra Chyau Patnaik that the Government has taken several measures to lessen the loan burden. "The State Government doesn't take loans unnecessarily. Very limited amounts of loan are being taken from the National Small Savings Fund and the State Government is trying to create revenue surplus to lessen the burden," Amat said.
He said that the Central Government had waived at a total loan of Rs 1909.50 crore during the period from 2005-06 to 2009-10 on the recommendation of the 12th Finance Commission. The State achieved this for adoption of the Financial Accountability and Budget Management Act 2005 and successful fiscal management.
Similarly, the Centre waived Rs 130.17 crore which the State Government owed on account of various schemes. The State achieved this by amending the above Act on recommendation of the 13th Finance Commission. Amart informed the members that the State's loan in 2012-13 had stood at Rs 37,980.14 crore with a per capita loan burden of Rs 8,874.