The country’s top 10 corporate borrowers accounted for nearly half of India Inc’s total net debt in FY25, much like it was in the previous year. In other words, the rest of the companies reported only a marginal increase in their borrowings or none at all.
A universe of 3,426 companies reported net borrowings of Rs 37.4 lakh crore for FY25, 6% higher over the previous year, signalling some appetite for capacity creation.
In FY24, India Inc’s net debt had risen by just 1%, partly the result of an unfavourable base in FY23. Cash and bank balances with India Inc were also high, at around Rs 13.5 lakh crore, at the end of March, 2025.
The increase in corporate leverage in FY25 ties in with the increase in capital expenditure during the year. Capital expenditure made by listed, non-financial companies in FY25 is estimated to have gone up by 20% to Rs 11 lakh crore, according to a study by ICICI Securities.
The data revealed a broad-based spending pattern with 157 companies each incurring a capex of more than $100 million (Rs 850 crore). This is the first time in over a decade that such a large number of companies have invested more than $100 million in a year. At the peak of capex cycle in 2012, 175 listed companies had invested a minimum amount of $100 million or roughly Rs 480 crore as per the exchange rate then.
Among the companies with the highest net debt in FY25 were Reliance Industries, state-owned power generator NTPC, telcos Vodafone and Bharti Airtel, Aditya Birla Group’s Grasim Industries and crude oil producer ONGC. They were followed by oil refiner IOCL, Power Grid Corporation, L&T and automobile major M & M.