Leader of Opposition Palaniswami questions T.N. government on ballooning debt situation

AIADMK leader criticizes Tamil Nadu government's debt management, pointing out significant increase in debt under DMK rule.

Leader of Opposition and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday launched a pointed attack on the debt management by the State government, which has seen the debt ballooning to ₹8,33,361 crore (estimated as on March, 2025) as he intervened during the debate on the Budget in the State Assembly.

Making an interjection during the conversation between Kumarapalayam MLA P. Thangamani and Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Mr. Palaniswami sought answer on how the State government could explain the substantial increase in overall State debt after the DMK was elected to power compared to when the AIADMK was voted out in 2021.

Mr. Palaniswami pointed out that during his tenure as Chief Minister between 2017 and 2021, when he faced strong criticism for not managing debts appropriately by the Opposition, Tamil Nadu faced severe damages and losses caused due to three major Cyclones — Vardah, Gaja and Ockhi — and had to endure one year of near total loss of revenue due to total lockdowns in a bid to contain Covid-19 pandemic.

He contended that the present government had only announced new schemes after stopping many of AIADMK’s marquee schemes, such as ‘Gold for Thali’ scheme and free laptop schemes for students even as the State government’s tax revenues were going up.

He said when AIADMK lost power in 2021, the total debt was ₹4,56,660 crore, which included a ₹1,00,000 crore revenue loss due to Covid-19 lockdown.

Mr. Palaniswami further added that while debt has increased substantially during the DMK government, only revenue expenditures, instead of capital expenditures, have increased, which has raised concerns about debt management. The AIADMK leader said he was apprehensive that the debt accrued during the DMK’s tenure could increase to ₹5 lakh crore by the end of the current Assembly’s tenure in 2026.

Responding to Mr. Palaniswami, the Finance Minister pointed out that the government has not only implemented some marquee schemes in Tamil Nadu, such as Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam and Pudhumai Penn scheme, it also had had to fund projects, such as Chennai Metro Rail Project, which is still awaiting approval of the Central government and had to face two major natural disasters.