Himachal facing debt burden of Rs 64,904 crore: CM

Himachal Pradesh is currently facing a debt of Rs 64,904 crore, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur informed the state assembly on Thursday.

He gave the information during a debate on a no-confidence motion against his government on the second day of the ongoing monsoon session.

The CM rose from his seat and gave the figure, correcting Congress legislator Jagat Singh Negi, who during the debate claimed that the hill state owes Rs 80,000 crore.

Thakur said that one Congress legislator says the state is facing a debt burden of Rs 70,000 crore, the other says Rs 75,000 and yet another says Rs 80,000 crore, none of which was true.

The CM said that the growth of loans during the previous Congress government was 67 per cent, whereas it is just 35 per cent during the current government despite the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the economy so badly.

Thakur said that the previous Congress government in all had taken loans of Rs 19,200 crores whereas his government took loans of Rs 16,998 crores only. The CM said his government took Rs 5,384 crore less debt as fixed by the centre.