Punjab plans ₹12,000cr RBI loan as debt keeps climbing
Punjab is set to borrow ₹12,006 crore via the sale of securities facilitated by the RBI between January and March 2026—just a slice of the nearly ₹5 lakh crore all states are raising this quarter.
The state's borrowing will be split across three months, with most of it going toward paying off old loans.
Most of Punjab's new loans go to clearing old debt
A huge 86% of what Punjab borrows now is just to repay existing debts.
By March 2026, the state's total debt is expected to hit ₹4.17 lakh crore—a 9% jump from last year.
Servicing this debt alone will cost over ₹43,000 crore in FY26.
Big fiscal pressures behind the borrowing
Punjab's finances are tight: tax revenues have dipped after a recent GST overhaul and floods have made things tougher.
To cope, the government has gone for competitive borrowing rates and tried renegotiating older costly loans—all while gearing up for elections in 2027.