The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of December stood at Rs 8.55 lakh crore, or 54.5 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 56.7 per cent in the year-ago period, government data showed.
The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit, the gap between expenditure and revenue, during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.
According to data released by the Controller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the central government received about Rs 25.25 lakh crore, or 72.2 per cent of the corresponding budget estimate for total receipts up to December 2025.
The total expenditure incurred by the Centre was Rs 33.8 lakh crore, 66.7 per cent of the corresponding budget estimate for 2025-26. The CAG report showed that, till December, of the total expenditure, Rs 25.93 lakh crore was on the revenue account and Rs 7.87 lakh crore on the capital account.
Major receipts and expenses
As per the CAG report, the centre received Rs 19,39,254 crore of tax revenue (Net to Centre), Rs 5,39,855 crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 46,047 crore of non-debt capital receipts.
“Rs 10,38,164 crore has been transferred to State Governments as Devolution of Share of Taxes by Government of India during this period, which is Rs 1,37,014 crore higher than the previous year,” the CAG report reads.
CAG stated that out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9,11,059 crore is on account of interest payments and Rs 3,17,490 crore is on account of major subsidies.
Economic Survey on fiscal deficit
Earlier on Thursday, the Economic Survey FY26 stated that the government is well on track to meet the fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent of GDP estimated for the current financial year based on broad trends.
According to the survey prepared the central government’s fiscal trajectory stands out for combining consolidation with sustained public investment, earning three sovereign rating upgrades this year.
Between FY20 and FY25, the share of capital spending in the total central government expenditure increased from about 12.5 per cent to 22.6 per cent, while effective capex as a share of GDP rose from roughly 2.6 per cent to 4 per cent, the survey said.