With the state borrowing Rs 20,769 crore between April 2025 and January 2026, Punjab’s outstanding debt has touched Rs 4.03 lakh crore. By the end of this fiscal, the total outstanding debt is expected to reach Rs 4.17 lakh crore.As the AAP government gets ready to present the last Budget of its term, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said though the state’s debt was now over Rs 4 lakh crore, AAP had borrowed money mostly to service the legacy debt, which accumulated in the past decades.“Nearly 85 per cent of what we raised as loans has been used for serving the legacy debt. When we assumed power, Punjab had an outstanding debt of Rs 2.84 lakh crore,” he said.Cheema added that 35 per cent of the principal amount of the loans has been repaid and the government was continuing to pay interest after transferring loans from high to low- interest rates.The state’s debt to GSDP ratio is now 44.47 per cent, which was 48.25 per cent in 2021-22.Cheema said under the AAP government, the GST collection stood at Rs 83,739 crore, while during the Congress tenure (2017- 22) it was Rs 61,286 crore.“The excise collections have increased by leaps and bounds, touching Rs 11,500 crore this year. Even the collections from stamp duty have increased from Rs 12,469 crore in the Congress tenure and Rs 12,387 crore in the SAD-BJP’s tenure (2012-17) to Rs 19,515 crore in the past four years,” he said.Interestingly, the fiscal indicators for the first 10 months of the ongoing financial year (April-January) show that the grants-in-aid from the Centre has reduced. As against a target of Rs 10,576 crore, the collection under this head is just Rs 3,583 crore.Cheema said, “The capital expenditure has increased as the AAP government has come up with an Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, developed sports nurseries, mohalla clinics and is rebuilding road infrastructure.”“The GST compensation cess received in the past four years stood at Rs 27,832 crore, as compared to Rs 72,340 crore under the previous government (2017-2022). We have also cleared employees’ pay commission arrears to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore,” Cheema said, adding that the capex spending stood at Rs 31,630 crore under the AAP government.Serving legacyNearly 85 per cent of what we raised as loans has been used for serving the legacy debt. When we assumed power, Punjab had an outstanding debt of Rs 2.84 lakh crore. — Harpal Cheema, Finance Minister