‘BRS left debt of Rs 3.64 lakh crore not 7 lakh crore’

Telangana is ranked among the least indebted States in country, says Union Minister of State for Finance in reply to a question by Congress MP Manish Tewari

Hyderabad: Debunking the claims of the Congress government on Telangana’s debt burden under the previous BRS regime, the Central government on Tuesday made it clear that Telangana’s total outstanding debt stood at Rs 4.42 lakh crore as of March 31, 2025. The State is ranked among the least indebted States in India.

Telangana’s debt-to-Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) ratio is only 26.2 per cent, making it the fifth lowest in the country. The State ranks 24th out of 28 States in terms of debt burden. The data, presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in response to a question by Congress MP Manish Tewari, also exposes the false propaganda from the ruling Congress in Telangana. Chaudhary gave the answers quoting the Reserve Bank of India’s ‘State Finances: A Study of Budgets’ and other information provided by the RBI.

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This directly contradicts the claims made by both the Congress and the BJP, which had accused the former BRS government of pushing the State’s debt to around Rs.7 lakh crore. As admitted by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in the Assembly itself, the Congress government has obtained loans to the tune of a staggering Rs.1.58 lakh crore loan in just 15 months. Even if the off-budget borrowings of around Rs 78,000 crore during the Congress regime are excluded, the outstanding debt of Telangana when BRS demitted office was around Rs.3.64 lakh crore, which is what the BRS has been stating all along.

Further, the Centre puts Telangana in a favourable financial position compared to States like Arunachal Pradesh (57 per cent), Punjab (46.6 percent), and Himachal Pradesh (45.2 per cent), which have highest debt-to-GSDP ratios. Even larger States like Tamil Nadu (30.3 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (31.8 per cent) have a heavier debt burden than Telangana, thus proving the Congress claims of BRS leaving the State in a debt-trap are false.

Incidentally, two other Congress-ruled States – Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka (26.5 per cent) are ranked above Telangana in terms of debt-to-GSDP ratio.

In terms of outstanding liabilities, Tamil Nadu tops the list with Rs.9,55,691 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 8,57,844 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 8,12,068 crore). Telangana ranks 12th with outstanding liabilities amounting to Rs.4,42,298 crore.