India’s external debt stood at US$762.8 billion at the end of March 2026, up US$26.3 billion from a year earlier. The country’s external debt-to-GDP ratio also increased to 20.8% from 19.8% in March 2025.
The stronger US dollar reduced the reported increase in debt. The valuation impact was US$24.6 billion. Without this currency effect, India’s external debt would have risen by US$51 billion over the year.
Long-term external debt increased to US$613.5 billion, up US$11.6 billion from a year ago. The share of short-term debt rose to 19.6% of total external debt from 18.3%, while its ratio to foreign exchange reserves increased to 21.6% from 20.1%.
On a residual maturity basis, debt due within the next 12 months accounted for 42.9% of total external debt, up from 41.2% a year earlier. It also rose to 47.3% of foreign exchange reserves from 45.4%.
The US dollar remained the largest borrowing currency, making up 55.5% of India’s external debt, followed by the Indian rupee (29.4%), Japanese yen (6.4%), SDR (4.3%), and euro (3.7%). Government debt declined during the year, while non-government debt increased.
Among borrowers, non-financial companies held the largest share of external debt at 36.4%, followed by banks (26.5%), the government (22%), and other financial firms (10.2%). Loans remained the biggest component of external debt at 34.7%, ahead of currency and deposits (22.3%), trade credit (19%), and debt securities (16.1%). India’s debt service ratio improved, falling to 5.8% of current receipts from 6.6% a year earlier.
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