India's fiscal deficit in April-Sept stands at 36.5% of FY26 target

The Centre's fiscal deficit stood at 36.5 per cent of the full-year target at the end of first half of FY26, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday.

The fiscal deficit was 29 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25 in the first six months of the previous financial year.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government's expenditure and revenue, was Rs 5,73,123 crore in the April-September period of 2025-26.

The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.

The CGA data showed that the government received Rs 16.95 lakh crore (49.6 per cent of the corresponding BE 2025-26 of total receipts) up to September 2025.

This comprised Rs 12.29 lakh crore tax revenue (net to Centre), Rs 4.6 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 34,770 crore of non-debt capital receipts.