Orissa, despite being a land with rich natural and human resources with 4.74% of India's total land mass and 3.5% of the total population of the country, has remained one of the poorest states in the country today. Nearly 48.06% of its population still lives below the poverty line against the all India average of 35.9%. The growth rate of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Orissa is not remarkable in spite of the heavy borrowing. The GSDP at constant prices (93-94) of Orissa has increased from Rs. 18,536.66 crore in 93-94 to Rs. 33,042.10 crore in 2005-06, registering an annual compound growth rate of 4.93% (The economic survey of Orissa 2006-07). The per-capita GSDP of Orissa by the end of 2005-06 was Rs. 13,744 as against the all India average of Rs. 60151 (by measuring GSDP at constant prices, 99-00 as the base year) with the per-capita gap at Rs. 6990. The total outstanding debt as on 31.3.2006 is of the order of Rs. 36456.46 crore (Orissa Budget at a Glance 2007-08, published by the Department of Finance, Govt. of Orissa). In terms of Debt to GSDP ratio too, the state Govt. of Orissa had registered an annual growth rate of 16% over the period 1990-91 to 2005-06 [...]