India's fiscal deficit for the April-January period widened to Rs 9.81 lakh crore, according to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts on Friday.
The deficit has reached 63% of the FY26 target in the first 10 months of the financial year. In January alone, the deficit stood at at Rs 1.3 lakh crore versus Rs 2.6 lakh crore in the year-ago period.
Net tax collections remains robust, with the cumulative mop-up reaching nearly Rs 21 lakh crore, or 78.3% of the yearly target. Till Decemner, the tax mop up had reached only 68.3% of the target. In the year-ago period net tax collections stood 88.1% of the FY25 target.
Capital expenditure continued to surge, reaching Rs 8.42 lakh crore or 76.9% of the FY26 target. Till the preceding month, capex stood at Rs 7.87 lakh crore or 70.3% of the annual target.
The Centre's revenue deficit in the April-January period widened to 1.96 lakh crore from Rs 1.13 lakh crore till December, reaching 37.3% of the annual target. However, it clocked a sharp decline from the year-ago period, when it had already reached 72.4% of the FY25 target.
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The total expenditure during the first 10 months of this fiscal stood at Rs 36.9 lakh crore, which is 74.3% of the FY26 estimated target, lower than 75.7% it had reached in the year-ago period.
The government's total receipts for April-October stood at Rs 27.08 lakh crore, which is 79.5% of the full-year target. In the comparable year-ago period, the mop-up stood lower at 76.3%.
Revenue receipts which are lead by tax collections reached 79.3% of the annual target in the first 10 months as they stood at Rs 26.51 lakh crore.
Notably, the non-tax collection revenue narrowed to 83.5% of its annual target, of which collection of dividends and profits reached 93% of the annual target.
Collection of dividends and profits by the end of January remained stagnant at Rs 3.5 lakh crore. In the comparable period of the last fiscal, the collections had reached 99% of the annual target.
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