Mumbai: India’s external debt increased to $762.8 billion at the end of March 2026, rising by $26.3 billion compared to the level recorded at the end of March 2025, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday.
The external debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 20.8 per cent at the end of March 2026 from 19.8 per cent a year earlier.
According to the RBI, while the outstanding debt of the government declined, non-government debt increased during the same period.
Debt service, which includes principal repayments and interest payments, declined to 5.8 per cent of current receipts at the end of March 2026 from 6.6 per cent at the end of March 2025.
The valuation effect caused by the appreciation of the US dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies stood at $24.6 billion. Excluding this valuation impact, India’s external debt would have risen by $51.0 billion instead of $26.3 billion during the period, the RBI said.
At the end of March 2026, long-term debt with an original maturity of more than one year stood at $613.5 billion, registering an increase of $11.6 billion over the previous year.
The share of short-term debt, with an original maturity of up to one year, increased to 19.6 per cent of total external debt at the end of March 2026 from 18.3 per cent at the end of March 2025.
The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves also increased to 21.6 per cent at the end of March 2026 from 20.1 per cent a year earlier.
Short-term debt on a residual maturity basis, which includes long-term debt obligations falling due within the next 12 months along with short-term debt by original maturity, accounted for 42.9 per cent of total external debt at the end of March 2026, compared to 41.2 per cent in March 2025.
It stood at 47.3 per cent of foreign exchange reserves, compared to 45.4 per cent a year earlier.
US dollar-denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India’s external debt, accounting for 55.5 per cent at the end of March 2026. It was followed by Indian rupee-denominated debt at 29.4 per cent, yen-denominated debt at 6.4 per cent, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at 4.3 per cent, and euro-denominated debt at 3.7 per cent.
The share of outstanding debt of non-financial corporations was the highest at 36.4 per cent of total external debt, followed by deposit-taking corporations excluding the central bank at 26.5 per cent, general government debt at 22.0 per cent, and other financial corporations at 10.2 per cent.
Loans remained the largest component of external debt with a share of 34.7 per cent, followed by currency and deposits at 22.3 per cent, trade credit and advances at 19.0 per cent, and debt securities at 16.1 per cent, the RBI statement added.
With IANS inputs