Document title, issuing authority, reference number, and date
India's External Debt as at the end of March 2026
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Press Release: 2026-2027/563
June 29, 2026
External sector and currency
The stock of external debt at the end of March 2026 stood at US$762.8 billion, representing an increase of US$26.3 billion over the end‑March 2025 level. The external‑debt‑to‑GDP ratio rose to 20.8 % from 19.8 % a year earlier. A valuation effect arising from the appreciation of the US dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies contributed US$24.6 billion to the increase. Excluding this effect, the underlying increase in external debt would have been US$51.0 billion.
The composition by original maturity shows long‑term debt (maturity >1 year) at US$613.5 billion, up US$11.6 billion YoY, while short‑term debt (original maturity ≤1 year) reached US$149.2 billion, a rise of US$14.7 billion. Short‑term debt’s share of total external debt grew to 19.6 % from 18.3 % in the prior year, and its ratio to foreign‑exchange reserves increased to 21.6 % from 20.1 %. When measured on a residual‑maturity basis (including long‑term debt that becomes due within the next twelve months), short‑term obligations accounted for 42.9 % of total external debt, up from 41.2 % in 2025, and represented 47.3 % of foreign‑exchange reserves, up from 45.4 %.
Currency‑wise, US‑dollar‑denominated debt remained dominant at 55.5 % of the total, followed by Indian‑rupee‑denominated debt at 29.4 %, yen‑denominated debt at 6.4 %, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at 4.3 %, and euro‑denominated debt at 3.7 %.
Financial stability and inclusion
Debt service – the sum of principal repayments and interest payments – fell to 5.8 % of current receipts in March 2026, down from 6.6 % a year earlier, indicating a modest improvement in the debt‑service burden.
Banking and credit
Sectoral ownership of external debt shows that non‑financial corporations held the largest share at 36.4 %, followed by deposit‑taking corporations (excluding the central bank) at 26.5 %, general government at 22.0 %, and other financial corporations at 10.2 %.
By instrument, loans were the biggest component at 34.7 % of external debt, followed by currency and deposits at 22.3 %, trade credit and advances at 19.0 %, and debt securities at 16.1 %. Detailed instrument‑wise figures for March 2026 are: SDR allocations US$22.4 bn, currency and deposits US$170.4 bn, debt securities US$123.0 bn, loans US$264.9 bn, trade credit and advances US$144.9 bn, and inter‑company lending US$37.2 bn.
Government and non‑government debt breakdown
Total external debt of the general government (including central bank) declined slightly to US$167.5 bn (4.6 % of GDP) from US$168.4 bn a year earlier. Within government debt, external assistance rose to US$105.2 bn, while other government external debt fell to US$62.3 bn.
Non‑government debt increased to US$595.3 bn (16.3 % of GDP) from US$568.0 bn in 2025. The breakdown is: central bank US$0.1 bn, deposit‑taking corporations US$202.1 bn, other financial corporations US$78.0 bn, non‑financial corporations US$277.9 bn, households/NPISHs US$0.01 bn, and direct inter‑company lending US$37.2 bn.
Concluding observations
The RBI’s external‑debt release shows a continued upward trajectory in total external liabilities, driven largely by valuation effects and modest growth in both long‑ and short‑term borrowing. The debt‑to‑GDP ratio has edged higher, while the debt‑service burden has eased. The dominance of US‑dollar‑denominated debt and the growing share of short‑term obligations underscore the importance of monitoring currency risk and liquidity buffers. Overall, the data suggest a stable but gradually expanding external‑debt profile, with non‑financial corporations as the primary external‑debt holders.