India's foreign debt rose US$ 15.4 billion to US$ 778.2 billion by June
External debt rose to US$ 778.2 billion at end-June 2026, but slipped to 20.8% of GDP. Debt due within a year rose to 50.5% of forex reserves.
Official title: India’s External Debt as at the end of June 2026 · Press Release 2026-2027/1220
What happened
India owed US$ 778.2 billion to foreign lenders at the end of June 2026, US$ 15.4 billion more than at end-March. Measured against the size of the economy, it eased slightly to 20.8% of GDP from 20.9%. A stronger dollar lowered the dollar value of yen and euro loans by US$ 0.9 billion, so the underlying rise was US$ 16.4 billion.
Most of the debt is long-term (US$ 624.7 billion). Short-term debt, due within a year of being taken, was 19.7% of the total. It equalled 23.0% of forex reserves, up from 21.6%. Counting long-term loans that fall due in the next twelve months too, debt due within a year was 50.5% of reserves, up from 47.3%.
Companies outside finance owe the largest share (36.1%), followed by banks (26.2%) and government (22.4%). More than half the debt is in US dollars (54.8%) and 29.8% is in rupees. Repayments and interest took 5.6% of what India earns from abroad, unchanged from March.
What it means for you
No direct effect. Foreign debt at about a fifth of the economy is moderate, and repayments use only a small share of foreign earnings, so it is not a source of stress for the rupee right now.
What it means for businesses
Companies with dollar loans should note that a falling rupee makes them costlier to repay. The rising share of near-term debt against reserves is worth watching but remains well covered.
Links in this release, explained
- External debt Statement I, IMF format (Excel)
Statement I: the detailed external debt tables in the IMF format, by borrower type, instrument and maturity, including revised figures for earlier quarters.
rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/docs/EXTERNALDEBT300926_ST1.xlsx - External debt Statement II, old format (Excel)
Statement II: the same debt data in India's older presentation, by categories such as multilateral loans, NRI deposits and commercial borrowings.
rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/content/docs/EXTERNALDEBT300926_ST2.xlsx
Read the original
Press release on rbi.org.in ↗ Official PDF ↗
This explainer simplifies the official text. If anything here differs from the RBI's release, the release is right.