Didn't stop laptop scheme, AIADMK did: CM

From 2016-21, debt grew at 128% to ₹4.8L cr; after 2021, it has grown at 93%, says Thennarasu

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Chennai

FINANCE Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Monday said that the rate at which the state's overall debt grew was higher during the previous AIADMK regime than during the present government. He said this in the Assembly while refuting the AIADMK's allegation that the present government is accumulating more debt.

From 2011 to 2016, when late AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa was the CM, the debt increased from ₹1.013 lakh crore to ₹2.11 lakh crore, Thennarasu said, adding that the "debt growth rate" was 108%. Similarly, between 2016 and 2021 when AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami was the CM, it (debt) grew at an even higher rate of 128% to ₹4.8 lakh crore.

However, after Chief Minister MK Stalin came to power during Covid-19, the debt has grown at 93% and is estimated to reach ₹9.3 lakh crore in 2025-26 as per budget estimates, he argued.