India's external debt rises by $11.5 bn to $570 bn in March

Mumbai: India's external debt surged by $11.5 billion year-on-year to $570 billion as of March-end 2021, according to the Reserve Bank of India data released on Wednesday.

The external debt to GDP ratio rose to 21.1 per cent as of March-end 2021 from 20.6 per cent a year ago, the data on India's External Debt showed.

"Valuation loss due to the depreciation of the US dollar vis-a-vis Indian rupee and major currencies such as euro, SDR and pound sterling was placed at $6.8 billion.

Excluding the valuation effect, the increase in external debt would have been $4.7 billion instead of $11.5 billion at end-March 2021 over end-March 2020," the RBI said.

Commercial borrowings remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 37.4 per cent, followed by non-resident deposits (24.9 per cent) and short-term trade credit (17.1 per cent). At March-end 2021, long-term debt (with an original maturity of above one year) was placed at $468.9 billion, recording an increase of $17.3 billion over its March-end 2020 level.