India's April fiscal deficit ₹3.62 trn after petrol diesel cuts
India's fiscal deficit jumped to ₹3.62 trillion in April 2026, almost twice as high as last year.
That's already over 21% of the full-year target, and a big chunk of this is thanks to recent excise duty cuts on petrol and diesel, which cost the government ₹14,000 crore in lost revenue.
Receipts drop 24% to ₹2.13 trn
Government receipts (excluding borrowings) dropped by nearly 24% year-on-year to ₹2.13 trillion, with non-tax revenue taking a sharp hit.
At the same time, spending surged by about 24%, reaching ₹5.75 trillion, driven by higher food and urea subsidies and increased capital spending.
Interest payments alone ate up more than one-half of all revenue receipts.
Analysts expect tax collections to improve
Despite these worrying numbers, analysts are pretty optimistic that things will improve as the year goes on.
Some revenue items are unevenly distributed through the financial year as economic activity ramps up and tax collections rise.