The State Government’s total outstanding liabilities at the end of the previous financial year 2020-21 crossed
the ₹ 2.5 lakh crore mark.
Of the total liabilities to the tune of ₹2,52,325 crore, the internal debt component comprising state development loans and other instruments alone stood at ₹ 2.14 lakh crore. The State has also raised ₹8,923 crore through bonds, ₹ 7,527 crore through special securities issued to NSSF and ₹ 4,514 crore as loan from Nabard during the period.
The total outstanding liabilities of the State were pegged at ₹ 2.19 lakh crore including internal debt of ₹1.85 lakh crore by the end of FY20 (2019-20) and ₹1.9 lakh crore including internal debt of ₹1.56 lakh crore by the end of FY19, according to the Handbook of Statistics of Indian States released recently by the Reserve Bank of India.
A major reason for the increase in the outstanding liabilities is the enhanced spending on the social welfare sector. The expenditure incurred by the State on special sector was pegged at ₹84,268 crore in 2020-21, a steep rise from ₹52,456 crore of the previous financial year. The State incurred the expenditure in spite of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic who incidence forced the State to declare a lockout for several weeks.
The State’s fiscal deficit grew to ₹ 33,191 crore during 2020-21 from ₹ 21,913 crore of the previous fiscal and it continued to be revenue surplus State at ₹4,482 crore for FY21. The State showed significant improvement in the gross enrolment ratio of 88 per cent (87.2 per cent boys and 88.8 per cent girls) in the IX and X standards in 2019-20. The ratio was against 77.9 per cent national average.
Enrolment ratio of students in higher secondary XI and XII classes during the period too was impressive at 57.2 per cent as against the national average of 51.4 per cent. The per capita net state domestic product at current prices stood at ₹ 2.37 lakh at the end of the previous fiscal was little than Haryana (₹2.39 lakh) and much higher than neighbouring Karnataka (₹ 2.26 lakh).
