SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh is currently facing a debt burden of over Rs 55,700 crore, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur Friday said adding that over ten per cent of total budget amount will be spent on loan interest payment in FY 2020-21.
Replying to a query while talking to media soon after presenting budget in state Assembly, he said that the debt burden on the state rose to Rs 55,737 crore.
Earlier while presenting the Rs 49,131-crore budget, the chief minister said that Rs 10.4 would be spent on interest payment out of every hundred rupees to be spent by the state government in 2020-21.
In other words, the state government will use approximately Rs 5,109 crore on loan interest payment out of the total Rs 49,131 crore budget in 2020-21.
The state's debt burden was Rs 49,096 crore in 2019, while it was 46,385 crore in 2017. Earlier, the burden on the state was 19,977 crore and Rs 27,598 crore in 2007 and 2012, respectively.
The previous Congress government had taken a net loan of Rs 18,787 crore during its five-year tenure from 2013 to 2017.