India's external debt in Apr-Sept is $456 bn

The external debt consist of long-term debt of $369.5 billion (up 4.7 per cent from March) and short-term debt $86.4 billion (down 3.2 per cent).

India's external debt stood at $455.9 billion in the first six months of this fiscal, up 3.1 per cent from March-end level, according to the Finance Ministry.

The external debt consist of long-term debt of $369.5 billion (up 4.7 per cent from March) and short-term debt $86.4 billion (down 3.2 per cent).

"The rise in external debt (of $13.7 billion or 3.1 per cent from March-end level) during the period was because of long-term external debt particularly commercial borrowings and NRI deposits," the ministry said.

Share of commercial borrowings was highest at 35.4 per cent of total external debt, followed by non-resident Indians' deposits at 23.8 per cent and multilateral debt at 11.7 per cent.

Sovereign external debt stood at $88.4 billion in September, up from $81.5 billion in March 2014, it added.

"The share of US dollar denominated debt continued to be the highest in external debt stock at 60.1 per cent at end-September 2014, followed by the Indian rupee 24.2 per cent, Special Drawing Rights 6.5 per cent, Japanese yen 4.5 per cent, and euro 3 per cent," the ministry statement said.

Government releases data on India’s external debt for the quarters ending September and December every year.