Punjab has accumulated a debt of over Rs.47,000 crore in the past a year and a half, prompting calls from economists to rationalise freebies amid lack of resources to make fresh capital investments as the State’s outstanding debt hovers over 50% of its GDP.

• Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, responding to a letter from Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday, said a “mammoth” amount of Rs.27,000 crore went into paying interest on the debt that was inherited from the past regimes.
• He said the State borrowed around Rs.32,447 crore in 2022-23 and Rs.14,660 crore from April to August 2023.
• The CM’s reply came after the Governor last month sought details about the utilisation of the borrowed amount.