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India's external debt rose by 7.6 per cent to $440.6 billion in 2013-14 mainly due to rise in deposits by non-resident Indians (NRI), the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.
India's external debt stood at $390 billion in the previous financial year.
"The rise in external debt was due to long-term debt, particularly NRI deposits. The surge in NRI deposits reflected the impact of fresh foreign currency non-resident deposits mobilised under the swap scheme during September-November 2013 to tide over the difficult balance of payment situation in the initial part of the year," the central bank stated.
The stock of NRI deposits in India's external debt has risen substantially from $70.8 billion at end-March 2013 to $103.8 billion at end-March 2014.
