E-Paper
Cash-strapped Himachal to raise loan of ₹1,000 cr for development
The Himachal Pradesh government has started the process of taking a loan of ₹1,000 crore by issuing a new notification. This loan is being taken by the state government for 22 years and it will be issued in the form of government securities.
The cash-strapped Himachal Pradesh government will take loan by selling government stock (securities) of ₹1,000 crore for carrying out development works of the state.
The Himachal Pradesh government has started the process of taking a loan of ₹1,000 crore by issuing a new notification. This loan is being taken by the state government for 22 years and it will be issued in the form of government securities.
The state government has a debt of ₹1.03 lakh crore, though the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government in the state has been blaming Bharatiya Janata Party for fiscal mismanagement and pushing the state into debt trap.
The committed liability of the government on payment of salary and DA to employees and the pensioners was about ₹30,000 crore per annum and 13% pending DA instalments and arrears of revised pay scales are yet to be cleared.
This government stock will be sold in auction through the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 29. The auction will be held through the E-Kuber electronic platform at the RBI office in Mumbai. The auction will be held between 10.30 am and 11.30 am.
The state government has also obtained formal permission from the central government for this loan. It has been clarified in the notification that this amount will be spent on various development schemes going on in the state.
The successful bidders participating in the auction will make the payment on 30 July 2025. The term of the stock will also start from the same day, which will be completed on July 30, 2047. That is, the government will repay this loan in 22 years.
The interest rate to be received on this stock will be decided during the auction, which is called the “cut-off yield”. Interest will be paid twice a year — on January 30 and July 30.
Banks investing in government stock will be able to count it in their statutory liquidity ratio (SLR). Also, this stock will be valid for forward and repo transactions.
This notification has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the Finance Department, Devesh Kumar, on July 24, 2025.
Loan of about ₹2,500 crores taken in five months
Earlier, in the month of April also, the government had taken a loan of ₹900 crore. At the same time, before the end of the financial year, in March also, loans were taken twice, ₹337 crores and the second time ₹322 crores. It is worth noting that till March 31, 2023, the state had a debt of ₹76,185 crore. But after that the current government has taken a loan of more than ₹30,000 crore till now.
