Mumbai: India’s total external debt stood at USD 762.8 billion at the end of March 2026, registering an increase of USD 26.3 billion over the year-ago period, according to the RBI data released on Monday.
Valuation effect due to the appreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the Indian rupee and other major currencies amounted to USD 24.6 billion, according to the data on ‘India’s External Debt as at the end of March 2026’.
“Excluding the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by USD 51 billion instead of USD 26.3 billion at end-March 2026 over end-March 2025,” the Reserve Bank of India said.
At the end of March 2026, long-term debt (with an original maturity of above one year) was placed at US$ 613.5 billion, recording an increase of US$ 11.6 billion over its level at the end of March 2025. The share of short-term debt (with original maturity of up to one year) in total external debt increased to 19.6 per cent at end-March 2026 from 18.3 per cent at end-March 2025. Similarly, the ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves increased to 21.6 per cent at end-March 2026 (20.1 per cent at end-March 2025).
Short-term debt on a residual maturity basis constituted 42.9 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2026 (41.2 per cent at end-March 2025) and stood at 47.3 per cent of foreign exchange reserves (45.4 per cent at end-March 2025). US dollar-denominated debt remained the largest component of India’s external debt, with a share of 55.5 per cent at end-March 2026, followed by debt denominated in the Indian rupee (29.4 per cent), yen (6.4 per cent), SDR (4.3 per cent), and euro (3.7 per cent).
