Chandigarh, March 3 – Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated on Tuesday that the AAP government has reduced the debt-to-GSDP ratio to 44.47 percent, a decrease of four percentage points. He also claimed that the government is spending 85 percent of its borrowings on servicing existing debt accumulated by previous SAD-BJP and Congress administrations.
Cheema refuted claims made by opposition parties regarding the rising state debt and blamed previous governments for putting the state in a "debt trap."
The Minister was addressing reporters in Chandigarh, highlighting the achievements of his department as the AAP government completes four years in office on March 16.
Cheema asserted that under the leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Punjab has achieved remarkable growth in revenue, ranking among the top three states in the country. He emphasized that the state's financial performance over the past four years reflects structural reforms, fiscal discipline, and administrative transparency.
Comparing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections of the AAP government over the past four years with those of the previous Congress regime, Cheema stated that the state government had generated tax revenue of Rs 83,739 crore in those four years.
He further noted that GST collections were Rs 61,286 crore over five years under the previous Congress government.
Cheema also stated that his department had generated excise revenue of Rs 37,975 crore in the past four years.
However, during the SAD-BJP and Congress regimes, excise revenue stood at Rs 20,545 crore and Rs 27,395 crore, respectively.
Cheema addressed the issue of outstanding debt, stating that when the AAP came to power in 2022, the outstanding debt was Rs 3 lakh crore, accumulated by the previous SAD-BJP and Congress governments.
"By servicing that debt, we have repaid 35 percent of the principal amount and 50 percent of the interest. Of the borrowings we took, 85 percent has been used to service the old debt," Cheema said.
He added that less than 15 percent of the borrowed funds are actually available for the AAP government to use for the state.
However, he stated that the AAP government has reduced the debt-to gross state domestic product (GSDP) to 44.47 percent from 48.25 percent in 2022.
He highlighted this as a significant achievement.
Responding to a question, Cheema stated that Punjab was in a "debt trap" when the SAD-BJP and the Congress were in power.
"We have reduced it (debt-to-GSDP) by 4 percent," the Minister said.
He further stated that Punjab's own tax revenue has surged significantly, rising from Rs 37,327 crore, which was 6.39 percent of the gross state domestic product in 2021-22, to an impressive Rs 57,919 crore, accounting for 7.15 percent of the GSDP in 2024-25.
Turning to land and property registrations, Cheema said revenue from stamp duty has also witnessed a historic rise.
"During the Congress tenure 2017-22, stamp duty collections saw an increase of less than one percent compared to the preceding Akali Dal government 2012-17," he said.
"The SAD-BJP government collected a total of Rs 12,387 crore, averaging Rs 2,477 crore annually, while the Congress managed only Rs 12,469 crore, averaging Rs 2,494 crore annually," Cheema added.
"Conversely, the AAP administration has generated Rs 19,515 crore by January 2026, with an annual average of Rs 5,091 crore. This indicates that in just four years, the AAP government collected 60 percent more stamp duty than the five-year terms of previous governments," he said.
"At this accelerated pace, the revenue is expected to double the Congress era's total by the 2026-27 financial year," Cheema concluded.
Cheema further stated that the AAP government has allocated Rs 7,000-8,000 crore for implementing the Pay Commission and clearing Rs 14,191 crore in Pay Commission arrears pending from 2016 to 2021.
"Furthermore, Rs 2,566 crore was spent to bail out financially distressed state entities like Punsup, land mortgage bank, PSIDC, and the Mandi Board," he added.
He also stated that the government paid Rs 1,750 crore to clear arrears of central schemes left unpaid by the previous Congress government.
The AAP government has made investments in the Consolidated Sinking Fund and Guarantee Redemption Fund maintained with the RBI.
"As of March 31, 2022, the state had only Rs 3,027 crore in the consolidated sinking fund and nothing in the Guarantee Redemption Fund. By December 2025, these reserves have swelled to Rs 10,738 crore in the consolidated sinking fund and Rs 982 crore in the guarantee redemption fund, bringing the total to Rs 11,720 crore," Cheema said.
