PMK President Anbumani Ramadoss has raised serious concerns over Tamil Nadu’s economic situation, highlighting that the state government has incurred a debt of ₹50,000 crore in just six months. In his statement, he questioned the direction in which Tamil Nadu’s economy is heading.According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Tamil Nadu borrowed ₹50,000 crore in the first half of the 2024-25 fiscal year. Out of this, ₹15,375 crore was used to repay previous loans, while the remaining amount was allocated for revenue expenditures. With an additional ₹34,268 crore in loans due for repayment this fiscal year, the state’s fiscal deficit has significantly worsened. The government plans to borrow an additional ₹1.05 lakh crore by March 2025.
Tamil Nadu’s total revenue for 2024-25 was estimated at ₹2.99 lakh crore. Ideally, ₹1.50 lakh crore should have been collected in the first half of the fiscal year. However, the government managed to generate only ₹1.23 lakh crore, meeting just 41.46% of the target.
The state’s revenue deficit has risen to ₹28,717 crore in the first half of 2024-25, surpassing the ₹18,588 crore target set in the financial statement. At this rate, the revenue deficit is expected to exceed the revised estimate of ₹49,278 crore for the year.
The fiscal deficit situation is equally dire. While the 2024-25 budget initially estimated a fiscal deficit of ₹96,031 crore, it was later revised to ₹1.08 lakh crore. Shockingly, the fiscal deficit has already reached ₹53,934 crore in the first six months, raising concerns that it may exceed ₹1.55 lakh crore by the end of the fiscal year.
He accused the government of relying heavily on increasing liquor prices and sales through TASMAC while failing to implement other revenue-enhancing measures.
He also condemned the government for raising property tax, electricity tariffs, water tax, professional tax, and vehicle tax, without introducing meaningful steps to improve revenue streams. Since taking office in 2021, the DMK government has borrowed a total of ₹3.76 lakh crore, leading to an annual interest payment of ₹63,722 crore – an average of ₹175 crore per day.
As of now, every individual in Tamil Nadu carries a debt of ₹1.20 lakh. Anbumani warned that this figure will only increase by the time the DMK government completes its term. He called for immediate action to save Tamil Nadu and its people from an impending economic collapse, urging voters to oust the DMK government in the 2026 Assembly elections