Chhattisgarh least indebted state in non-special category: RBI report

The state has again topped the list in social and development expenditure, according to the report

Chhattisgarh’s debt among the non-special category states in the country remained lowest, says Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report for on state finances for 2015-16.

“In terms of percentage of gross state domestic product (GSDP), Chhattisgarh has the lowest debt burden at 15.5 per cent in the non-special category status,” state’s finance department officials quoting the RBI report said. This is the lowest debt burden in the category among all the states in the country, they added.

Chhattisgarh has again topped the list in social and development expenditure, according to the report. As in the previous years, the development expenditure as percentage of GSDP is highest in the entire country. It is 21.2 per cent against all non-special category states’ average of 12.2 per cent. The state stood second in social sector expenditure. The social sector expenditure is 15 per cent of GSDP in the year 2015-2016 while it is below 8 per cent among all states’ average in the category.

The officials said the report had underlined that the state had improved its position from fifth to fourth in the non-special category states in terms of capital expenditure, which was 4.4 of the GSDP is 4.4. The other states' average was 2.7 per cent. Even interest payment is lowest in the country at 0.8 per cent of the GSDP.

The tax revenue collection as percentage of GSDP was 8.1, which was better than all states average of 6.6 per cent, the officials said, adding that the Chhattisgarh ranked fourth in the non-tax revenue collection (3.5 per cent of GSDP) which was much higher compared to all states average of 1.3 per cent.