Chandigarh, March 3: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday announced that the state has secured a position among India’s top three states for revenue growth. Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, the minister stated that Punjab’s own tax revenue increased from ₹37,327 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal year to ₹57,919 crore in 2024-25.
The minister maintained that the state’s excise revenue has experienced an 86.77 percent surge under the current administration. Cheema asserted that while the previous Congress government averaged ₹5,479 crore in annual excise collections, the Aam Aadmi Party government has achieved an annual average of ₹9,907 crore. He affirmed that total excise collections reached ₹37,975 crore by January 2026, surpassing the five-year totals of both the Congress and SAD-BJP regimes.
Despite inherited financial challenges, the government reported a reduction in the Debt-to-GSDP ratio from 48.25 percent to 44.47 percent. Cheema stated that the administration is successfully managing a legacy debt of ₹3,00,000 crore while simultaneously clearing over ₹14,000 crore in Pay Commission arrears left by previous administrations.
“Punjab’s own tax revenue has surged significantly, rising to an impressive ₹57,919 crore,” Cheema declared. He affirmed that these results were achieved even as central grants and GST compensation dropped by 62 percent compared to the previous five-year term.
The Finance Minister also noted that capital expenditure is projected to reach ₹31,630 crore, a substantial increase over the spending of earlier governments. He maintained that digital reforms, such as the ‘Pension Seva Portal’, have been implemented to ensure administrative transparency and efficiency.
