New Delhi: The central government’s total public debt surged from Rs 64.11 lakh crore at the close of the 2014-15 financial year to a provisional figure of Rs 201.17 lakh crore by the end of 2025-26. This reflects an absolute increase of approximately Rs 137.06 lakh crore over the eleven-year timeframe. The figures were presented to the Lok Sabha in a written response by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary to an unstarred question raised by Member of Parliament Dharmendra Yadav. Official data indicates that the rising liabilities represent a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10.95 per cent per annum across the period.
Year-wise data tabled in Parliament illustrates a consistent upward trajectory in total liabilities. Public debt expanded to Rs 70.98 lakh crore in 2015-16, reaching Rs 82.90 lakh crore by 2017-18 and crossing the hundred-lakh-crore mark in 2019-20 at Rs 105.07 lakh crore. The pandemic period saw further acceleration, with debt rising to Rs 121.86 lakh crore in 2020-21, Rs 156.13 lakh crore in 2022-23, and expanding to Rs 171.70 lakh crore and Rs 185.95 lakh crore in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years respectively. The MoS noted that metrics from 2016-17 onward reflect the revised Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management framework adopted following recommendation reviews in 2018-19, which accounts for liabilities net of cash balances while re-incorporating outstanding extra-budgetary resources.
Addressing the utilization of borrowed capital, the ministry explained that net debt raised over the decade—mirroring the cumulative fiscal deficit—totaled roughly Rs 125.99 lakh crore. Crucially, nearly 48 per cent of this amount, amounting to Rs 60.21 lakh crore, was funneled directly into capital expenditure projects to enhance productive national infrastructure. Over the same decade, total loan repayments for dated government securities and external obligations amounted to approximately Rs 30.94 lakh crore.
Despite the increase in absolute borrowing, the government maintained that national fiscal health remains sustainable due to favorable macroeconomic indicators. Minister Chaudhary highlighted that India’s debt-to-GDP ratio has steadily declined in the post-pandemic era, dropping from 61.4 per cent in 2020-21 to 58.2 per cent by 2025-26. This relative reduction was achieved because nominal GDP growth consistently outpaced the average cost of government borrowing. Official policy continues to prioritize targeted capital spending to stimulate economic activity, keeping the fiscal deficit aligned with a path that guarantees a declining long-term debt-to-GDP ratio.
