New Delhi, July 21 -- The central government paid more than Rs 81 lakh crore towards interest and repayment of loans over the last six financial years from 2020-21 to 2025-26, the Parliament was told on Tuesday.

A written reply by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Rajya Sabha showed that the Centre paid a total of Rs 58.37 lakh crore as interest and Rs 22.80 lakh crore towards repayment of principal on dated Government Securities and external loans during the six-year period.

Together, the total debt servicing amounted to Rs 81.17 lakh crore.

The data showed that interest payments have increased steadily over the years. The government paid Rs 6.80 lakh crore as interest in 2020-21, which rose to Rs 8.05 lakh crore i...