Punjab's big fat weddings have apparently caught the fancy of the hill people. Himachalis are now splurging big on such functions even if they have to take a loan for it, thus leaving them debt ridden in many cases.

According to a study, apple growers and farmers in Himachal Pradesh are taking non-farming loans to meet their consumption needs including marriages and other social functions, which earlier used to be a simple affair and the expenditure was generally met with family savings.

The affluent farmers of Kullu, which is a premier apple belt, Sirmaur and Kangra are joining the race with Punjab to borrow money for social ceremonies. This trend has come to the fore in a recent study by Professor Satish Verma, RBI Chair at Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial development (CRRID) Chandigarh to evaluate the credit availed by rural households in these three districts of Himachal.

The report titled "Rural credit and financial penetration in HP", to be officially released soon, points out that while average household debt for social ceremonies in Punjab's villages is Rs 9.60 lakhs, the amount rises to 12.80 lakhs in case of HP. As a result, the amount of debt outstanding per rural household in the state has reached Rs 1 lakh.

The study says moneylenders (including relatives and friends) have emerged as the second largest contributor for non-institutional loans with nearly 40 per cent share.

"Interestingly, non-institutional sources have financed a larger proportion of the loan amount in banked (33.43 per cent) than in unbanked (28.54 per cent) villages. That means, the non-institutional sources, though, are dominant in unbanked villages, though these play a significant role in banked ones also," the study reads.

"People of apple belt in Himachal are spending lavishly on marriages and other ceremonial functions. For consumption purposes, such as marriages, people prefer to approach non-institutional sources. The new element in HP is the friends and relatives acting as moneylenders, which is not that prevalent in case of Punjab," Prof Verma, told The Statesman.