States' expenses on salary, pension, interest payment rise 2.5 times in 10 yrs: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has reported a steep increase in the committed expenditure of states on salaries, pensions, and interest payments over the past decade.

- MPOST BUREAU

According to the State Finances 2022-23 publication, these expenses rose 2.49 times to reach Rs 15,63,649 crore in the financial year 2022-23, compared with Rs 6,26,849 crore in 2013-14.

Committed expenditure, which includes salaries, pensions, and interest obligations, accounts for a significant portion of state revenue expenditure and leaves limited fiscal room for other developmental spending. The report highlighted that a large share of states’ revenue expenditure remains tied up in these mandatory outflows.

During the 10-year period under review, revenue expenditure consistently formed 80 to 87 per cent of total spending by the states. As a share of combined Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), this stood at 13-15 per cent. In FY 2022-23 alone, revenue expenditure reached 84.73 per cent of total expenditure and was 13.85 per cent of the combined GSDP.