Hamirpur/ New Delhi, August 10 2026:
Former Union Minister and Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government in Himachal Pradesh, accusing it of pushing the state into an unprecedented financial crisis through reckless borrowing, fiscal mismanagement and a lack of economic discipline.
The Union Finance Minister’s reply to Unstarred Question No. 3605 raised by Anurag Singh Thakur in the Lok Sabha has revealed a steep and continuous rise in Himachal Pradesh’s outstanding liabilities.
According to the official figures, the state’s total outstanding debt has risen from ₹51,030 crore in 2018 to a staggering ₹1,10,010 crore in the 2026 Budget Estimates.
Anurag Thakur said the figures expose the “economic mismanagement” of the Sukhu government and show how the Congress regime has made borrowing the principal support system of the state’s finances. He said Himachal should have been moving towards higher investment, employment and sustainable growth, but the government has instead pushed the state deeper into debt.
The most alarming revelation, he said, is that Himachal Pradesh entered an overdraft for the first time since 2017-18 in 2025. Reserve Bank of India data shows that the state maintained a zero balance in both Ways and Means Advances and Overdrafts from 2018 through 2024. However, in 2025, the state was forced to rely on ₹777 crore in Ways and Means Advances and recorded an overdraft of ₹875 crore.
“This is not routine financial management; it is a red flag for the state’s fiscal health,” Anurag Thakur said, accusing the Congress government of taking Himachal to a situation where even liquidity management has come under severe pressure.
He further pointed out that Himachal Pradesh’s debt-to-GSDP ratio has climbed to 42.8 per cent in the 2026 Budget Estimates, significantly higher than the 29.2 per cent national average for all States and Union Territories.
Anurag Thakur said the government’s dependence on market borrowing has also reached alarming levels. Gross market borrowings touched ₹14,000 crore in 2022-23, while the state borrowed ₹7,359 crore in 2024-25 and another ₹9,864 crore in 2025-26. The borrowing spree has continued into the current financial year, with ₹2,800 crore already borrowed up to July 31, 2026.
He said these figures expose the “borrow-and-survive model” of the Sukhu government, arguing that instead of strengthening the state’s revenue base and creating sustainable sources of income, the Congress government has repeatedly turned to loans and market borrowings.
According to Anurag Thakur, the combination of ₹1,10,010 crore in outstanding liabilities, a 42.8 per cent debt-to-GSDP ratio, an ₹875 crore overdraft and thousands of crores in market borrowings presents a deeply worrying picture of Himachal Pradesh’s finances.
He accused the Sukhu government of mortgaging the state’s economic future and leaving the burden of its financial failures to future generations. He said the government’s policies have weakened fiscal stability at a time when Himachal needs greater investment, employment generation, infrastructure development and sustainable economic growth.
Anurag Thakur said the state urgently needs structural economic reforms, strict fiscal discipline, stronger revenue mobilisation and prudent debt management to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
He warned that if the current trajectory continues, Himachal Pradesh will face an even heavier debt burden in the years ahead. The people of the state, he said, deserve to know why a state that maintained zero overdraft balances from 2018 to 2024 was pushed into an ₹875 crore overdraft in 2025, while its outstanding liabilities simultaneously climbed from ₹51,030 crore to ₹1,10,010 crore.
