Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, tabled by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for the financial year 2024-25 pointed out that state’s total debt and liabilities crossed the ₹1 lakh crore mark for the first time.
Emphasising on the urgent need for stronger monitoring systems, timely compliance, and reforms to ensure financial discipline and effective governance in the state, the report reveals that the overall liabilities of the state stood at ₹1,04,410 crore as on March 31, 2025, a significant increase from ₹96,522 crore in the previous financial year, underscoring a steep rise in the debt burden.
It further reflected that public debt alone accounted for ₹75,554 crore, up from ₹70,369 crore a year earlier, reflecting the state’s continued reliance on borrowings to sustain its finances.
During 2024–25, the government raised ₹26,622 crore through borrowings, while repayments stood at ₹18,168 crore, resulting in a net addition to the debt stock. This trend seems closely linked to the widening fiscal imbalance, with the state recording a fiscal deficit of ₹12,611 crore and a revenue deficit of ₹6,804 crore, indicating that even routine expenditure is not completely supported by its income.
Meanwhile, liabilities under the public account, including small savings, provident funds and deposits, also increased to ₹28,851 crore from ₹26,148 crore in the previous year, adding to the overall burden.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, liabilities under the public account, including small savings, provident funds and deposits, also increased to ₹28,851 crore from ₹26,148 crore in the previous year, adding to the overall burden.
{{/usCountry}}The CAG report further highlights the state’s continued dependence on central transfers, with ₹10,681 crore coming as the share of central taxes and ₹13,721 crore as grants from the Centre. Despite this support, the rising gap between receipts and expenditure and the growing reliance on borrowings point to structural challenges in future.
The CAG highlights systemic lapses in education, mining, irrigation, disaster management, and forest administration, along with a massive backlog in audit compliance
A key concern flagged in the report is the pendency of 207 Action Taken Notes (ATNs) on Public Accounts Committee recommendations, alongside an alarming 58,256 unresolved audit paragraphs, indicating delays in corrective action and weak administrative response mechanisms.
HPU grappling with 27–37% faculty shortage
In the education sector, as per the report, Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) was found grappling with a 27–37% faculty shortage, adversely affecting teaching and research. The audit also revealed irregular appointments, with documents of 186 recruits not verified, and serious infrastructure gaps, including less than half of classrooms being ICT-enabled. Further, equipment worth ₹1.99 crore has remained non-functional for years, while most ERP modules are yet to be operational despite significant expenditure.
The mining sector came under sharp scrutiny, with over 40,000 cases of illegal mining detected in the past five years amid weak monitoring and enforcement. The report also pointed to lapses in revenue collection leading to losses of around ₹1.81 crore, along with instances of duplicate project funding and unrecovered advances. Concerns were also raised over the functioning of the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT), where only about 20% of projects were completed and 96% beneficiaries remained unaware of the scheme.
In the irrigation sector, the audit flagged poor planning and execution, noting that several projects were undertaken without proper surveys, resulting in incomplete or non-functional schemes and wasteful expenditure of public funds. Many projects failed to deliver intended benefits on the ground. Serious deficiencies were also highlighted by the report in the utilisation of disaster relief funds under SDRF and NDRF. The report noted delays of around ₹254 crore in assistance, instances of inadmissible expenditure, and prolonged delays in relief distribution, affecting beneficiaries.
In the forest department, discrepancies in assessment of compensatory afforestation (CAMPA) funds pointed to a potential short realisation of ₹1.33 crore, raising concerns over transparency and valuation mechanisms.