Panjab Raises Another Loan, Will Host International Men’s Hockey Tournament

April

2026

Within seven days into the new fiscal year, on 7 Apr, the Panjab Government raised a USD 160M loan for a period of 10 years, drawing the ire of Opposition Indian National Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal over the deteriorating fiscal health of the state. During 2026–27, the state government intends to raise a loan of USD 4670M through market borrowings. Of that, USD 4528M will be used to repay old loans and service the debt. Additionally, the Punjab and Haryana High Court (PHHC) has directed the state administration to clear pending Dearness Allowance of the employees and pensioners by 30 Jun which would cost the state another USD 160M. The fund-starved Panjab government has decided to file an appeal before a PHHC division bench. Meanwhile, Panjab government employees got their March salary after 10 Apr instead of on 1 Apr. Finance Minister Harpal Cheema blamed technical issues and bank holidays. He said, 'The salary for March is delayed every year. There are issues with the software. There were bank holidays for two days.' Concurrently, the PHHC issued a notice to the Panjab government on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging its failure to appoint a Lokpal (Ombudsman) for over six months. A division bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry directed the counsel for Panjab to seek specific instructions on the timeline for filling the vacancy, which has rendered the state’s anti-corruption statutory body non-functional. The PIL filed by advocate Vishal Mehta argued by advocate Mayank Mathur states that the office of the Lokpal has been lying vacant since the retirement of Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma on 8 Oct 2025. Simultaneously, on 11 Apr the Panjab Cabinet cleared a massive solar street lighting program covering 11,500 villages with nearly 300K lights, and gave its nod to host the Men’s Asian Champions Trophy 2026—a hockey tournament in which six international teams will participate—for the first time in Panjab. The Panjab government is also adding 1,265 buses to significantly improve connectivity across the state (earlier coverage).