§ MR. WEIRTo ask the Secretary of State for India if he will state the number of Native States indebted to the Government of India on account of advances, the total amount of that indebtedness, the average rate of interest, and the amount by which the debt is being reduced annually.
(Anwered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton.) on the 31st March, 1902, loans were outstanding to 201 Native States, amounting in all to Rs. 4,10,45,506. The repayments during the last three years, for which full information is available, have been as follows, viz.: in 1899–1900, Rs.1,41,293; in 1900–1901, Rs 31,13,950; in 1901–1902, Rs.15,97,864. The rate of interest in all cases was 4 per cent. Since the 31st March, 1902, some additional loans have been granted, at various rates of interest, chiefly to States which have suffered through the late famine; but complete information as to these transactions has not yet reached me.