Maharashtra, long regarded as India’s economic powerhouse, is staring at an unprecedented fiscal crisis as its outstanding public debt is projected to leap from ₹7.82 lakh crore at the beginning of 2024-25 to a colossal ₹9.32 lakh crore by March 31, 2025. This staggering single-year addition of ₹1.5 lakh crore is fuelled by continuous high-cost market borrowings and a fresh ₹75,000 crore-plus supplementary demand tabled in the ongoing winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur.

If the assembly clears these supplementary grants without major cuts, the state’s total budget outlay for 2025-26 will swell dramatically from the originally announced ₹7.5 lakh crore to almost ₹8.9 lakh crore. More worryingly, the per capita debt burden on Maharashtra’s 12.4 crore residents — including newborn children and the elderly — will shoot up to roughly ₹82,000 per head, one of the highest among large Indian states and a 20 per cent jump within a single fiscal year.

The Opposition has gone on an all-out offensive, branding the Mahayuti government’s financial management as reckless and directionless. Senior Congress MLC Satej Patil accused the administration of turning supplementary demands into an annual ritual rather than an exception. “Supplementary demands are constitutionally meant only for unforeseen emergencies like floods or earthquakes. In Maharashtra, they have become the rule — every session, tens of thousands of crore are sought afresh, exposing complete absence of planning and budgetary control,” he stated on the floor of the Legislative Council.

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Patil further alleged that the treasury is so depleted that thousands of contractors and vendors have not been paid for months, with several threatening self-immolation outside Mantralaya. Meanwhile, several flagship departments have surrendered huge chunks of their original allocations, revealing a bizarre paradox: some ministries claim starvation of funds while others sit on unspent billions.

Sharad Pawar-led NCP(SP) MLA Jitendra Awhad questioned the government’s ability to utilise the fresh grants meaningfully. “Only three months remain before the next financial year starts on April 1. How will departments suddenly spend ₹75,000 crore that they claim is urgently required today? This is nothing but an attempt to hide revenue deficits and push liabilities onto the next government,” he charged, warning that spiralling interest payments will soon crowd out all capital expenditure and welfare spending if the borrowing spree continues unchecked.

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