Foreign debt up 10% to $736 bn; external debt-to-GDP also rises

India’s external debt increased by 10 per cent to $736.3 billion at the end of March 2025 compared to $668.8 billion in the year-ago period, the RBI said on Friday.

As a percentage of the GDP, the external debt increased to 19.1 per cent at the end of the recently concluded financial year from 18.5 per cent a year ago, it added.

In a year which saw some volatilities in the currency markets, the RBI said the “valuation effect” due to the appreciation of the US dollar against the rupee and other currencies amounted to $5.3 billion, while if one were to exclude the valuation effect, external debt would have increased by $72.9 billion instead of $67.5 billion in the year.

The overall debt included $261.7 billion of loans taken by non-financial corporations, $168.4 billion by the government and $202.1 billion by deposit-taking corporations, excluding the central bank, the RBI said. At March-end 2025, long-term debt was $601.9 billion, an increase of $60.6 billion over the year.