Panjab's Budget Presented; Total Liabilities Estimated at USD 44.2B

On 25 Mar Union Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, informed the Indian Parliament that Panjab's total liabilities are estimated at USD 44.2B. He also revealed that the state’s debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio stood at 46.6%, which is the second highest among Indian states, after Arunachal Pradesh. In 2022, when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government came to power, the total liability was USD 30.7B. In January 2025, Panjab’s Fiscal Health Index score was the lowest in the country at 10.7, according to the report on Fiscal Health index, released by the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog (Commission). Panjab’s total liabilities are expected to reach USD 48.7B by 2026. On 26 Mar, the Panjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented the USD 27.5B state’s budget for the financial year 2025-26 without imposing any new taxes. It is the fourth budget of the AAP govt., but the pre-election promise of providing INR 1K (USD 11) per month to women has not been implemented. The budget announced the first-ever 'drug census’ among other promises. The total revenue receipts have been projected to be USD 13.1B. Of these, the Panjab state’s own tax revenue accounts for USD 7.4B, the share of union govt. taxes has been pegged at USD 3B while its grant-in-aid is at USD 1.2B. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) target for the next financial year is USD 3.2B. The state will raise a loan of USD 5.8B in 2025-26. Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, state chief of Indian National Congress said, ‘Budget lacks both substance and vision. There is practically nothing for infrastructure development.’ Ravneet Singh Bittu, union minister from Bharatiya Janata Party said, ‘Empty vessels make the loudest noise.’ In 1981, Panjab’s debt was USD 1.2B; in 1991, it was USD 2.9B; in 2001, it was USD 6.3B; in 2011, it was USD 18.8B; and in 2021, it was USD 35.1B.