CAG releases states Finances 2022-23 report: 16 states with revenue surplus recorded

In September 2025, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India released its report titled “State Finances – 2022-23: A Decadal Analysis,” which noted that in Financial Year 2022-23 (FY23), 16 States recorded a revenue surplus, while 12 States reported a revenue deficit.

Revenue Highlights

Revenue Receipts: During FY23, the total revenue receipts of the 28 States was Rs.35,13,095 crore (cr) which was 22.96% of their combined GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) of Rs.2,59,57,705 cr.

The following is the composition of revenue receipts:

• States’ Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) constituted 48%.
• Union Taxes constituted 27%.
• Central grants constituted 17%.
• States’ Non-Tax Revenue (SNTR) constituted 7.80%.

Grants: The total Finance Commission (FC) grants under various categories, including certain grants for health sector, was Rs.1,72,849 cr.

• The largest share of the total, about 50%, was revenue deficit grants, followed by 26% Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) grants, 11% Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Grants, 10% State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and 1% State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF).

Expenditure Highlights

Total Expenditure: The total expenditure by all the 28 States in FY23 was Rs.42,43,920 cr, which was about 16% of the States’ combined GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product).

• The share of revenue expenditure was 85% and capital expenditure was 15%.
• Committed expenditure on salaries, interest and pension was about 43.49% of the revenue expenditure and expenditure on subsidies was 8.61% of the revenue expenditure.

Sectoral Expenditure: In terms of sectoral expenditure, General Sector, Social Sector and Economic Sector in FY23 accounted for 30.34%, 38.24% and 28.90% respectively of the total expenditure.

• Social sector and economic sector revenue expenditure was about 62% of the total revenue expenditure.
• Social sector and economic sector capital expenditure was about 95% of the total capital expenditure.

Debt Highlights

Total Debt: The states also raise funds through market borrowings and loans from banks, financial institutions and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for their expenses. As on 31st March 2023, the total public debt of all 28 State Governments (SGs) was Rs.59,60,428 cr, of which:

• The total internal debt was Rs.54,02,986 cr
• Loans and advances from the Central Government (CG) was Rs.5,57,442 cr

Liability: As on 31st March 2023, the States put together had a Public Account liability of Rs.13,05,623 cr, constituting over 5% of the combined GSDP.

States Highlights

Revenue Surplus: The Uttar Pradesh (UP) leads this list with a revenue surplus of Rs.37,000 cr in FY23, followed by Gujarat (Rs.19,865 cr), Odisha (Rs.19,456 cr), Jharkhand (Rs.13,564 cr), Karnataka (Rs.13,496 cr), Chhattisgarh (Rs.8,592 cr).

• North-Eastern (N-E) states such as Arunachala Pradesh (AR), Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim also figure among the surplus states.

States own revenue resources: In FY23, some states have strengthened their own tax and non-tax revenue sources.

• Haryana leads with over 80% of its revenue coming from state sources, followed by Telangana (79%), Maharashtra (73%), Gujarat (72%), Karnataka (69%), TN (69%), and Goa (68%).
• On the other hand, States of AR, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura had SOTR of less than 20% of their total revenue receipts. 

Revenue Deficit: The combined revenue deficit of the 12 deficit States was Rs.2,22,648 cr. The following are the states where revenue receipts were:

• 90-100% of Revenue Expenditure (RE) – Bihar, Kerala, Meghalaya and Maharashtra.
• 80-90% of RE – Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh (HP), Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (TN) and West Bengal (WB).
• 75-80% of RE – Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Punjab

Revenue Deficit Grants: The following 10 states received about 94% of the total Revenue Deficit Grants (Rs.86,201 cr):

• The largest share of the revenue deficit grant went to West Bengal (15.76 per cent), Kerala, AP, HP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Assam, Rajasthan, Nagaland and Tripura.

About the report:

The Publication on State Finances 2022-23, the first of its kind by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India provides an overview of finances of 28 States for the Financial Year 2022-23, together with fiscal data and analysis relating to the ten year period from FY 2013-14.

• The Publication provides a wealth of fiscal data with respect to numerous parameters relating to revenues, expenditure, public debt & liabilities, deficit indicators and guarantees.

About Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG):

The CAG of India is an authority, established by Article 148 of the Constitution of India, which audits all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India (GoI) and the State Governments. CAG is appointed by the President of India.
CAG – K. Sanjay Murthy
Establishment – 1858
Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi