The total debt stock of the Orissa government by the end of September 2008 was Rs 36,219.5 crore which is Rs 344.5 crore higher compared to Rs 35,875 crore recorded at the end of March, 2008.
After declining by Rs1373 crore for the first time since independence during 2007-08, the debt stock of the state has again started increasing.
The total debt stock which was at Rs 18100.8 crore in 1999-2000 increased to Rs 36,219.5 crore by the end of September 2008, finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadai said.
The state government incurred debt of Rs 4473.7 crore during 2000-01 which increased to Rs 7550.33 crore in 2003-04. The net addition to the debt stock of the state has been on the decline since then. While net addition to the debt stock was Rs 6045.89 crore in 2004-05, it declined to Rs 4834.02 crore in 2005-06.
This further declined to Rs 4119.71 crore in 2006-07 and to Rs 2606.79 crore in 2007-08. During the first six months of 2008-09, the addition to the debt stock was Rs 1301.62 crore, Ghadai added. The repayment of the principal of the loans was Rs 1572.6 crore in 2000-01 and increased to Rs 3717.56 crore in 2003-04. It declined to Rs 3628.66 crore in 2004-05 and further to Rs 2428.75 crore in 2005-06.
Repayment of principal increased to Rs 3326.65 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 3544.7crore in 2007-08. The state government repaid Rs 1393.72 crore during the first 6 months of the current fiscal. About the payment of interest on the state government loans, the finance minister said, the interest payment was Rs 2286.81 crore in 2000-01.
This increased to Rs 3697.1 crore in 2005-06. While the interest payment in 2006-07 was Rs 3188.43 crore, it was Rs 3169.48 crore in 2007-08. The interest payment during the current fiscal up to September 2008 was Rs 968.86 crore. However, the government is yet to take decision about the open market borrowings.
