India's external debt climbed to $763 billion in FY26, shows RBI data

India's external debt rose to $762.8 billion at the end of FY26, while the external debt-to-GDP ratio increased to 20.8 per cent, according to RBI data

India’s external debt rose by $26.3 billion to $762.8 billion by March 2026 from a year earlier, while the external debt-to-GDP ratio increased to 20.8 per cent from 19.8 per cent, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Monday.

 

The US dollar remained the dominant currency in India’s external debt composition, accounting for 55.5 per cent of the outstanding stock at the end of March. Debt denominated in the Indian rupee constituted 29.4 per cent, followed by the Japanese yen at 6.4 per cent, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at 4.3 per cent and the euro at 3.7 per cent.

 

 

The increase in external debt was partly offset by valuation effects arising from the appreciation of the US dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies. The valuation impact amounted to $24.6 billion during the year. Excluding this effect, external debt would have increased by $51 billion until March 2025.

 

Long-term external debt--with an original maturity of more than one year--stood at $613.5 billion at the end of March 2026, up $11.6 billion from a year ago. Its share in total external debt declined marginally as short-term borrowings grew at a faster pace.

 

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 a year earlier. The ratio of short-term debt to foreign exchange reserves also rose to 21.6 per cent from 20.1 per cent during the period.

 

On a residual maturity basis, which includes long-term debt maturing within the next 12 months, short-term debt accounted for 42.9 per cent of total external debt at the end of March 2026, compared with 41.2 per cent a year ago. The ratio of such debt to foreign exchange reserves increased to 47.3 per cent from 45.4 per cent.