Burden of cutting public debt may fall on Centre

State debt is expected to have risen in 2016-17 on account of UDAY

The fiscal responsibility and budget management (FRBM) review committee has favoured a debt to GDP ratio of 60 per cent for the general government by 2023. This comprises 40 per cent for the Centre and the balance 20 per cent for state governments.

But state debt, which is already hovering around 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), is expected to have risen in 2016-17 on account of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). This means that the burden of reducing general government debt will largely fall on the Centre.

Data on outstanding debt positions of the Centre and state