Market Borrowings of State Governments: Who Borrowed the Most

By Rusen Kumar

The fiscal landscape of India’s states is shaped significantly by how they raise and manage debt. Market borrowings have emerged as a vital financial instrument for state governments to fund large-scale infrastructure, social welfare programs, and to meet fiscal deficits. Over the two fiscal years 2022–23 and 2023–24, data on Gross and Net Market Borrowings presents a revealing snapshot of how Indian states are leveraging debt to meet their growing expenditure needs.

According to recent RBI data, states collectively raised Rs. 7.58 lakh crore in gross borrowings in 2022–23, which jumped to Rs.10.07 lakh crore in 2023–24—a significant increase of 32.78%. Similarly, net borrowings—which reflect actual addition to state debt after repaying past loans—rose from Rs.5.18 lakh crore to Rs.7.17 lakh crore, registering a 38.22% growth. These figures highlight an increased reliance on debt financing across the country, with some states showing steep hikes and others demonstrating caution or even reductions.

States with Significant Increases in Borrowings

A closer look at individual states reveals a varied picture, with some states dramatically increasing their borrowings while others saw decreases or remained relatively stable. States like Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh recorded triple-digit percentage increases, signaling a shift in fiscal posture or growing capital needs:

Chhattisgarh saw a staggering 1500% increase in Gross Borrowings, jumping from Rs.2000 Crore to Rs.32000 Crore. This is accompanied by a dramatic shift in its Net Borrowing, from a negative Rs.2287 Crore in 2022-23 to a significantly positive Rs.26213 Crore in 2023-24. This massive swing highlights a fundamental change in Chhattisgarh’s borrowing activity.

Karnataka more than doubled its Gross Borrowings, increasing by 125% from Rs.36000 Crore to Rs.81000 Crore. Its Net Borrowing also saw a remarkable surge of 142.32%.

Uttarakhand nearly doubled its Gross Borrowings, with a 96.88% increase from Rs.3200 Crore to Rs.6300 Crore. Its Net Borrowing saw an even larger jump of 162.07%.

The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir also showed a very high percentage increase, with Gross Borrowings rising by 92.81% and Net Borrowings by 132.92%. Notably, the source clarifies that the State of J&K ceased to exist constitutionally from October 31, 2019, and its liabilities continue as those of the new UT.

Goa experienced significant percentage growth, with Gross Borrowings up by 88.89% and Net Borrowings soaring by 212%.

Uttar Pradesh recorded a substantial increase in both Gross (75.59%) and Net (104.19%) Borrowings, reaching Rs.97650 Crore Gross and Rs.85335 Crore Net in 2023-24, making it one of the largest absolute borrowers.

Borrowing Trends in Large States

Other large states also saw considerable absolute increases in Gross Borrowings, including Maharashtra (from Rs.72000 Cr to Rs.110000 Cr, up 52.78%), Tamil Nadu (from Rs.87000 Cr to Rs.113001 Cr, up 29.89%), and Rajasthan (from Rs.46057 Cr to Rs.73624 Cr, up 59.85%). These states represent a large portion of the total market borrowing volume.

States with Decreased or Negative Borrowings

States like Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat either curtailed borrowings or focused on debt reduction, possibly indicating tighter fiscal control or alternate revenue sources. In contrast, some states reduced their market borrowing activity or saw decreases. Jharkhand drastically cut its Gross Borrowings from Rs.4000 Crore to Rs.1000 Crore (-75.00%), and its Net Borrowing became more negative (from -Rs.155 Cr to -Rs.2505 Cr). Himachal Pradesh also saw significant reductions in both Gross (-42.34%) and Net (-50.95%) Borrowings. Gujarat reduced its Gross Borrowings by -29.07% and Net Borrowings by -57.80%. Other states like Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Punjab also saw decreases in Net Borrowings.

States with Zero Gross Borrowings

Interestingly, Odisha and Tripura consistently recorded zero Gross Borrowings in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Both states also showed negative Net Borrowings in both years, meaning their repayments exceeded any market borrowings —suggesting a strong focus on debt reduction or reliance on non-market funds such as central transfers, grants, or internal revenues. Odisha’s net negative borrowing was -Rs.7500 Crore in 2022-23 and -Rs.4658 Crore in 2023-24, while Tripura’s was -Rs.645 Crore and -Rs.550 Crore respectively. This suggests a reliance on other funding sources or effective debt management strategies that allowed them to repay more than they borrowed from the market during these years. Jharkhand, as noted earlier, also had negative net borrowing in both periods.

Early Data for 2024-25

The data for the initial months of 2024-25 (January, February, March) included in the source indicates ongoing borrowing activity. A Grand Total Gross of Rs.460,163 Crore and Net of Rs.343,853 Crore was raised across states during January-March 2024.

Understanding Gross vs. Net Borrowing

The distinction between Gross and Net borrowing is crucial. Gross Amount Raised represents the total funds borrowed during the period, while Net Amount Raised is the Gross amount minus repayments of principal during the same period. A positive net borrowing indicates that new borrowings exceeded repayments, adding to the state’s outstanding debt. A negative net borrowing means repayments were greater than new borrowings, effectively reducing the outstanding debt (at least from market sources).

	Market Borrowings of State Governments
	State	2022-23		2023-24		2024-25						Total 2024-25
						Jan		Feb		Mar
		Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net	Gross	Net
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1	Andhra Pradesh	57478	45814	68400	55330	5000	4000	6820	5820	8148	7148	78258	57123
2	Bihar	36800	27467	47612	29910	0	0	5800	5460	4760	4400	10560	9860
3	Chhattisgarh	2000	-2287	32000	26213	0	-700	4000	2000	14000	12613	24500	16193
4	Goa	1350	500	2550	1560	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Gujarat	43000	28300	30500	11947	7000	2700	7900	5580	8000	5900	22900	14180
6	Haryana	45158	28638	37500	28584	6600	3400	2750	1200	5600	3600	14950	8200
7	Himachal Pradesh	14000	11941	8072	5856	900	300	384	384	659	659	1943	1343
8	Jharkhand	4000	-1558	0	0	0	0	0	0	3500	3500	3500	3500
9	Karnataka	30000	26067	36000	31499	16125	13500	3000	3000	10000	8000	29125	24500
10	Kerala	32500	18900	33000	20120	0	0	1000	1000	3500	2500	4500	3500
11	Madhya Pradesh	40158	28489	39800	26284	8000	4000	6000	5000	22400	15306	36400	24306
12	Maharashtra	50000	43686	72000	56808	10000	5000	15000	10000	22440	16458	47440	31458
13	Odisha	10000	1000	22678	1000	1000	500	7000	4000	11780	10780	19780	15280
14	Punjab	45360	36364	42386	29517	3900	2000	2900	2000	5400	3900	12200	7900
15	Rajasthan	40657	32606	47000	33678	6100	4500	7000	5200	8800	7000	21900	16700
16	Tamil Nadu	87000	65722	113001	79359	10000	7000	13000	9900	26400	20129	49400	37029
17	Telangana	40150	30922	41018	33985	6209	4609	3000	2000	6500	3806	15709	10415
18	Uttar Pradesh	55612	41797	97660	85358	5000	3000	9000	5000	10000	7472	24000	15472
19	Uttarakhand	2320	1845	3246	2000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	West Bengal	63000	52900	69910	48891	5500	2500	2500	2500	23750	23750	31750	28750
21	Arunachal Pradesh	559	389	902	672	0	0	216	215	135	135	351	350
22	Assam	17100	16105	18500	16000	0	0	3500	3500	3300	1830	6800	5330
23	Meghalaya	1000	800	1000	800	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	Mizoram	1315	1129	901	641	119	119	119	119	120	120	358	358
25	Manipur	1422	1147	1426	1076	0	-160	250	147	251	250	501	237
26	Sikkim	1500	1000	1500	1000	0	0	200	200	150	150	350	350
27	Tripura	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	300	300	300	300
28	Nagaland	1854	1199	2551	2004	0	0	500	500	850	850	1350	1350
29	Puducherry	1200	608	1500	800	0	0	300	300	240	240	540	540
30	Jammu & Kashmir UT	8473	5996	10337	7398	920	0	200	0	0	0	1120	0
		734966	547486	882950	638290	92373	56268	102339	75025	200983	160796	460485	334524

(India CSR)