India borrowed USD 91 billion in 7 years, mainly for election-related projects, according to Gokhale.
Annual interest payments of ₹45,000 crore are equivalent to the entire higher education budget.
External debt reached USD 736.3 billion by March 2025, with citizens expected to repay it for years.
Saket Gokhale, a member of the Trinamool Congress, claimed on Wednesday that the Union government had "heavily" borrowed money from foreign banks to finance projects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had planned during the election campaign, and that the Indian people would be responsible for repaying this foreign debt for decades to come.
According to PTI, the TMC MP said in a post on X that over the previous seven years, India has borrowed USD 91 billion from foreign banks.
"Today, for Modi’s birthday, the government will announce mega projects as 'gifts' to the people. Every time there’s a state election, Modi makes regular campaign visits and announces projects worth lakhs of crores," he said.
"Over the last 7 years, the Modi Govt has heavily borrowed money from international banks to fund projects that Modi announces during elections," Gokhale said.
The TMC leader also shared data given in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha by the Finance Ministry in December 2023 on loans availed from foreign multilateral financial institutions and banks.
"India has borrowed $91 billion (Rs 8,035,300 crore) from foreign banks in just 7 years. Foreign debt of Rs 8 lakh crore in 8 years means an average of Rs 1.2 lakh crore per year," Gokhale said.
"On this amount, India pays an annual interest of Rs 45,000 crore. That’s only the interest. The repayment of the actual loan principal is separate," he said.
According to him, India's "entire annual budget on higher education" is equal to the Rs 45,000 crore in interest paid each year on this foreign debt, which was taken out in 2018.
According to the TMC MP, the Modi administration has "bled people through taxes" for the past eleven years.
"The Modi government has been heavily borrowing money from foreign institutions, as if that weren't enough. Who will be responsible for paying off this enormous foreign debt? In his post, Gokhale stated.
He claimed that Modi's electoral pledges are being paid for by the Indian people.
"The sadder part? Once the election is over, Modi’s promises are forgotten," he said.
"India is borrowing billions of dollars just for funding Modi’s false election promises. And the people of India will be repaying this foreign debt for decades to come," he said.
According to the Reserve Bank of India figures, India’s external debt increased by 10 per cent to $736.3 billion at the end of March 2025 compared to $668.8 billion in the year-ago period.
As a percentage of the GDP, the external debt increased to 19.1 per cent at the end of the recently concluded financial year from 18.5 per cent a year ago.
With PTI inputs.
