Madhya Pradesh Uses 30% of Fresh Borrowing on Old Debt

Madhya Pradesh is a big state in India, and it needs to borrow money from lenders, just like grown-ups sometimes use a credit card.

When the state borrows money, it has to pay it back later with a little extra called interest.

A report by India's top money-checker, the CAG, found that for every 100 rupees the state borrows, almost 30 rupees are used just to pay back loans it took earlier.

That is like using a new credit card to pay the old credit card bill.

This means there is less money left to build new roads, schools, and hospitals.

The state's total debt has grown very big, to about 5.31 lakh crore rupees, which is a huge number with many zeros.

If that debt were shared out, every person in the state, even newborn babies, would owe about 55,000 rupees.

The state's finance minister says borrowing is okay because the money is used to build things that will help the economy grow.

But the auditors worry that if the state keeps borrowing to pay old debts, it will have less money for the things people need.