New Delhi [India], March 25 : and liability in isolation.Congress leader Manish Tewari on Wednesday said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made a wrong interpretation of his remarks during the debate on the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha and that he had not spoken of total debt
In her reply to the debate, Sitharaman said that the Congress member had made a point about debt to GDP ratio in isolation and had not taken into account the rise in GDP.
Manish Tewari said in a post on X that he had pointed out that both the Centre and States collectively are missing the FRBM target.
"I did not speak about Total Debt and liability in isolation. It was juxtaposed with the Debt and GDP Ratio that is 55.2 per cent for the Centre and 29.2 per cent for the states. The broader point that possibly the MOS Finance Pankaj Chaudhary missed as Hon'ble Nirmala Sitharaman was not present in the house when I spoke yesterday morning was that both the Centre and States's collectively are missing the FRBM target mandated by the 2018 amendment of 40 per cent for the centre and 20 per cent collectively for the states by more than a mile given that centre's Debt to GDP Ratio is 55.2 per cent and the states collectively is 28.2 per cent respectively," he said.
In her remarks, Sitharaman said that Manish Tewari raised some issues about the total debt and liability situation.
"To speak of debt in nominal terms without a correlation with the GDP will make no sense. India's nominal GDP rose from 113 lakh crore to 345 lakh crore. A stand-alone debate on debt alone doesn't make a difference. The government has actually made a clear glide path to bring down the Debt to GDP ratio to 50, plus or minus one per cent, by 2030-31. That's stated in the last budget. We've openly stated and given a number as well. So, he should take that into cognizance," she said
"The central government is not alone responsible for debt. Centre's debt to the GDP is also because the states also come into the picture. The Centre alone cannot control state borrowings. Manish Tewari should spend time with CMs of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka and help them bring down their debt," she added.
Lok Sabha later passed the Finance Bill, 2026, with government amendments. The Bill gives effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2026-2027.