India's April-October Fiscal Deficit At Rs 8.25 Lakh Crore, Reaches 52.6% Of FY26 Target

India's fiscal deficit for the April-October period widened to Rs 8.25 lakh crore, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday.

The deficit has reached 52.6% of the FY26 target in the first seven months of the financial year, as per the data. In the year-ago period, the fiscal deficit stood at 7.51 lakh crore and had reached only 46.5% of the yearly target.

The Centre's revenue deficit in the April-October period stood at Rs 2.44 lakh crore, which is 46.7% of the annual target. In the year-ago period, the deficit was sharper at 52.2%.

The total expenditure during the first seven months of this fiscal stood at Rs 26.25 lakh crore, which is 51.8% of the FY26 estimated target, similar to the 51.3% it had reached in the year-ago period.

Out of this, the total capital expenditure stands at Rs 6.17 lakh crore, which is 55.1% of the annual target. This marks a jump as compared to the year-ago period, when capex stood 42% of the fiscal target.

The government's total receipts for April-October stood at Rs 18 lakh crore, which is 51.5% of the full-year target. In the comparable year-ago period, the mop-up stood at 53.7%.

Revenue receipts which are lead by tax collections reached 51.6% of the annual target in the first seven months as they stood at Rs 17.63 lakh crore.

Notably, in the non-tax collection segment, government has already reached 83.9% of its annual target, of which collection of dividends and profits have met their annual target within the first seven months itself.

Collection of dividends and profits by the end of October stood at Rs 32.41 lakh crore. In the comparable period of the last fiscal, the collections had reached 91% of the annual target.

Tax revenue so far has reached 44.9% of the fiscal target, compared to 50.5% in the year-ago period. The tax collections stood at Rs 12.74 lakh crore.