India’s April-Oct fiscal deficit at 46.5% of FY25 target

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s fiscal deficit for April-October was 7.5 trillion rupees ($88.79 billion), or 46.5% of the estimate for the year ending March 2025, government data showed on Friday.

Net tax receipts for the first seven months of the financial year were 13.05 trillion rupees or 51% of the annual target, compared with 13.02 trillion rupees for the same period last year, the data showed.

India’s financial year runs from April through March.

Total (EPA:TTEF) government expenditure was 24.74 trillion rupees or about 51% of the annual goal, compared to 23.94 trillion rupees in the same period last year.

The government’s spending has been lower due to general elections conducted earlier this year.

For the first seven months, the government’s capital expenditure, or spending on building physical infrastructure, was 4.7 trillion rupees or 42% of the annual target, compared to 5.5 trillion rupees a year earlier.

The Indian government has pegged its fiscal deficit target at 4.9% of gross domestic product in its latest budget, compared with 5.6% in the previous year.