On September 17, 2025, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale sparked controversy with a post on social media platform X, alleging that the Modi government has engaged in extensive foreign borrowing over the past several years. Known for his frequent criticism of the BJP-led Centre, Gokhale cited a response from the Department of Economic Affairs in the Finance Ministry, given in the Rajya Sabha in December 2023.
According to Gokhale, the union government borrowed a total of Rs 8,03,530 crore (approximately $91 billion) from international banks over the last 7–8 years. He claimed these loans were used to finance various projects, many of which were announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi around election periods.
In his post, Gokhale stated, “Modi Govt’s shocking foreign borrowing: Over the last 7 years, the Modi Govt has HEAVILY borrowed money from international banks to fund projects that Modi announces during elections. The amount? India has borrowed $91 BILLION (Rs 8,03,530 CRORE) in just 7 years. That’s an average of Rs 1.2 lakh crore per year. On this amount, India pays an annual interest of Rs 45,000 crore. That’s only the interest — the repayment of the principal loan is separate.”
Scammer Saket Gokhale has come with another piece of shit.! He has old habbit of mixing RTIs and taking millions of fund by fooling people.
Here also he has cropped his Rajyasabha question and reply as per his need.
As per govt's reply (PDF attached in thread), These loans are… https://t.co/0r0CxwiaXc
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) September 18, 2025
In an effort to highlight the scale of the foreign loans and the burden of interest payments, Saket Gokhale drew a comparison with national spending priorities. He claimed, “The annual interest of Rs 45,000 crore on this foreign debt (since 2018) is equivalent to India’s entire yearly budget for higher education.” Criticising the timing of government announcements, he added, “On Modi’s birthday, the government will unveil mega projects as ‘gifts’ to the people. Every time there’s a state election, Modi regularly visits and announces projects worth lakhs of crores.”
Gokhale went on to accuse the Centre of overburdening citizens, stating, “For the last 11 years, the Modi government has drained the public through taxes. And if that wasn’t enough, it has been heavily borrowing from foreign institutions. Who will ultimately bear the cost of this massive foreign debt? The answer is simple, you.”
The controversial TMC leader accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of borrowing from foreign banks to fund large-scale project announcements made ahead of elections, only to neglect those promises once the polls are over, while leaving Indian citizens to bear the financial burden.
“Modi will keep announcing jumlas before every election,” Gokhale alleged. “He promises lakhs of crores as ‘gifts to the people’ as if he’s spending from his own pocket. The harsh truth is that it’s the people of India who are paying the price for Modi’s election stunts. Worse still, once the election ends, those promises are forgotten. India is borrowing billions of dollars just to fund Modi’s false pre-election promises, and it’s the people who will be repaying this foreign debt for decades.”
In support of his claims, Gokhale shared cropped excerpts from the Finance Ministry’s reply to his Rajya Sabha query. However, critics argue that he either deliberately omitted key details from the government’s response or has chosen to ignore the broader context entirely.
Has the Modi government really taken Rs 8 lakh crore in foreign debt?
In 2023, TMC MP Saket Gokhale submitted a set of questions in the Rajya Sabha seeking information on foreign loans. Specifically, he asked:
(a) the number of loan agreements signed by the Government with foreign multilateral financial institutions and foreign banks since January 2018 for infrastructure projects, along with details of each;
(b) the total amount of such loans, including the interest rates; and
(c) the current outstanding amount yet to be repaid to these lenders.
In response, the union government provided comprehensive data outlining the loans taken from foreign institutions since January 2018, including the loan currencies, interest rates, and outstanding amounts in local and foreign currencies.
While one of the images Gokhale shared in his post correctly reflected the figures from this response, he presented the total amount as loans taken solely by the union government. This is misleading.
In reality, the loans detailed in the government’s reply were not exclusively taken by the Centre. They include borrowings by various state governments, including West Bengal’s TMC-led administration.
According to the Finance Ministry’s official response, the breakdown of external borrowing since January 2018 is as follows:
Union Government: $15.23 billion
Maharashtra: $2.90 billion
Tamil Nadu: $1.80 billion
Rajasthan: $1.36 billion
Madhya Pradesh: $1.10 billion
Andhra Pradesh: $1.09 billion
Chhattisgarh: $0.46 billion
Uttar Pradesh: $0.42 billion
Karnataka: $0.40 billion
West Bengal: $0.38 billion
Assam: $0.36 billion
Himachal Pradesh: $0.35 billion
Bihar: $0.31 billion
Punjab: $0.24 billion
Tripura: $0.28 billion
Odisha: $0.22 billion
Kerala: $0.22 billion
Uttarakhand: $0.23 billion
This clearly indicates that the figure of Rs 8 lakh crore (or $91 billion) cited by Gokhale includes loans taken by both the Central and various state governments, and not by the Centre alone. As such, his claim lacks crucial context and presents a distorted picture of India’s foreign borrowing.
West Bengal under TMC rule
While Gokhale targets the Modi government over selective loan data, he ignores the grim financial situation in his own backyard, the TMC-governed state of West Bengal. Here is what the numbers say about West Bengal’s debt crisis
-West Bengal’s total outstanding debt stands at $86 billion, among the highest in India.
-The Debt-to-GSDP ratio is 38 per cent as of March 2024, the highest among large Indian states.
-For FY 2023–24, West Bengal’s interest payment alone was Rs 46,000 crore, a figure equivalent to the union government’s annual foreign loan interest Gokhale mentioned.
-The West Bengal government had to take an emergency loan of Rs 2,000 crore just to pay pending Dearness Allowances (DAs) to government employees, following a Supreme Court directive.
-TMC has also taken foreign loans to fund its flagship Lakhi Bhandar Yojana, a cash transfer scheme.
-Reports suggest that mid-day meal funds were diverted to pay compensation to riot victims, raising further concerns about fiscal discipline and transparency in fund utilisation.
Despite this glaring fiscal mismanagement, Saket Gokhale remains silent on his own party’s accountability, choosing instead to deflect blame onto the Centre using cropped and distorted data.
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