THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
NEW
DELHI/BHUBANESWAR, JULY 21, 2026
India’s public debt
is projected to climb to ₹218.63
lakh crore by the end of the financial year 2026–27 (FY27), according to
information placed before Parliament by the Union Government in response to a
question raised by Rajya Sabha MP Dilip Ray. The disclosure, made
by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, reveals that the country’s
total debt had already reached ₹201.17
lakh crore by the end of 2025–26, with the government estimating a substantial
increase over the next financial year.
The figures presented
in Parliament indicate that while India’s external debt is expected to decline
marginally from ₹9.89
lakh crore to ₹9.64 lakh crore, the overall debt burden will continue to rise.
The estimates are based on prevailing foreign exchange rates and have been
incorporated into the Union Budget projections for 2026–27.
The government’s response also highlights a sustained increase in debt servicing obligations. Principal repayments have grown significantly over the past six years, rising from ₹2.62 lakh crore in 2020–21 to an estimated ₹6.22 lakh crore in 2026–27. Interest payments have followed a similar upward trajectory, increasing from ₹6.80 lakh crore in 2020–21 to a projected ₹14.04 lakh crore in the current financial year, underscoring the mounting fiscal pressure of servicing the nation’s expanding debt portfolio.
In a separate reply to another question from Dilip Ray, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav informed the Rajya Sabha that while an AIIMS Bhubaneswar satellite centre is operational at Balasore, the Centre has no proposal at present to establish another satellite facility in Odisha. The response comes despite Dilip Ray’s long-standing demand for setting up an AIIMS satellite centre in Rourkela to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in western Odisha and serve the larger public interest.
