Fiscal Deficit for April-October Hits Rs 8.25 lakh Crore, Widens to 52.6% of FY26 Target
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue, was Rs 8,25,144 crore in the April-October period of 2025-26
New Delhi: India’s fiscal deficit for the April-October period widened to Rs 8.25 lakh crore as the deficit has reached 52.6 percent of the FY26 target in the first seven months of the financial year. In the year-ago period, the fiscal deficit stood at 7.51 lakh crore and had reached only 46.5 percent of the yearly target, an official data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) said on Friday.
In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue, was Rs 8,25,144 crore in the April-October period of 2025-26. The Centre, however, estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.
As per the CGA data, the central government received about Rs 18 lakh crore or 51.5 per cent of the corresponding BE 2025-26 of total receipts up to October 2025. “This comprised Rs 12.74 lakh crore of tax revenue (net to Centre), Rs 4.89 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 37,095 crore of non-debt capital receipts,” the data showed.
Further, the data showed that Rs 8,34,957 crore was transferred to state governments as devolution of share of taxes by the Government of India during April-October, which is Rs 1,11,981 crore higher than the previous year.
“The total expenditure incurred by the Centre is Rs 26.25 lakh crore (51.8 per cent of the corresponding BE 2025-26), out of which Rs 20 lakh crore was on revenue account and Rs 6.17 lakh crore on capital account. Of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 6.73 lakh crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 2.46 lakh crore on major subsidies,” the CGA data showed.
Commenting on the data, Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra Ltd said that the central government’s fiscal deficit expanded to Rs 8.3 trillion or 53 per cent of the FY2026 BE during April-October FY2026 from Rs 7.5 trillion in the year ago period, led by a 32 per cent surge in capex. “Encouragingly, the revenue deficit narrowed to Rs 2.4 trillion in April-October FY2026 from Rs 3 trillion in April-October FY2025, as revenue expenditure remained flat, and non-tax revenues surged by 22 per cent, offsetting the 2 per cent contraction in net tax revenues that was led by higher tax devolution to the states,” Nayar said.
“The Centre’s gross tax revenues expanded by a robust 14 per cent in October 2025, albeit on a low base; overall, gross tax revenues rose by a tepid 4.0 per cent YoY during April-October FY2026, amid a 6.9 per cent rise in income tax collections, and a subdued 5.2 per cent growth in corporate tax collections. The rise in indirect tax collections was quite weak at just 2.6 per cent in April-October FY2026, amid a 2.5 per cent contraction in customs duties and a 6-8 per cent growth in CGST and excise duty collections,” she said.
