Kolkata, Jan 8 (NationPress) The West Bengal government is expected to exceed its budgeted market borrowings for the ongoing financial year 2025-26, alongside its anticipated total debt by March 31, 2026. This conclusion emerges from the trends observed in the first nine months and the planned borrowings for the upcoming three months of the fiscal year.

According to the budget documentation for the fiscal year 2025-26, the state was projected to secure Rs 81,972.333 crore from the open market.

However, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reveals that the West Bengal government has already borrowed approximately Rs 78,000 crore during the first nine months of the current financial year, spanning from April 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.

The RBI's statistics indicate that the state plans to pursue an additional borrowing of about Rs 46,000 crore over the remaining three months of this financial year. This includes Rs 14,500 crore in January, Rs 14,000 crore in February, and Rs 17,500 crore in March.

Mathematically, this suggests that by the conclusion of the financial year 2025-26, from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, West Bengal will accumulate total borrowings of around Rs 1,24,000 crore (comprising Rs 79,000 crore in the first nine months plus Rs 46,000 crore in the remaining three months). This amount significantly exceeds the budgeted market borrowing of Rs 81,972.333 crore.

The revised estimates for the same fiscal year forecast that the total accumulated debt for the state government will reach Rs 7,06,531.61 crore by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2026.

Given that the projected total market borrowing for 2025-26 is set to greatly surpass the budgeted borrowing figure, the accumulated debt is likewise expected to exceed the initial projections, both proportionally and significantly.

By the end of the fiscal year 2010-11, the last fiscal year under the 34-year-long Left Front rule, the total accumulated debt of the West Bengal government was slightly over Rs 1,90,000 crore.