April-Nov fiscal deficit at Rs 9.76 lkh cr

India's fiscal deficit for April to November, or the first eight months of this fiscal year, was at Rs 9.76 lakh crore, equivalent to 62.3% of annual estimates, widening from the previous year's 52.5%. The government aims to narrow the fiscal gap to 4.4% of GDP in this financial year from 4.8% a year earlier.Total receipts stood at Rs 19 lakh crore, while overall expenditure in April to November was at Rs 29.25 lakh crore. They were 55.7% and 57.8% of this fiscal year's budget target.Also Read: Union Budget 2026: Economists urge tax incentives, data centre push and export diversification at PM Modi’s pre-Budget meetTotal receipts in the year-earlier period was at 59.1% of estimate, while expenditure marginally widened from 56.9% a year earlier.Revenue receipts stood at Rs 19.10 lakh crore, of which tax revenue was Rs 13.93 lakh crore and non-tax revenue was Rs 5.16 lakh crore. Tax and non-tax revenues were 49.1% and 88.6% of the budgeted estimate. While tax revenue was narrower than 55.9% of budget estimate in the last fiscal year, non-tax revenue swelled from 78.3% of budget forecast in the same period last year.Non-tax revenue jumped as the Reserve Bank of India approved a dividend of Rs 2.69 lakh crore to the central government, up from Rs 2.11 lakh crore transferred last year. This will help the central government reduce its fiscal deficit.Revenue deficit was at Rs 3.57 lakh crore or 68.2% of the fiscal year's budget target, data showed.While announcing the federal budget for this fiscal year that started April 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set the fiscal deficit target for 2025-26 at 4.4%, in line with the Indian government’s commitment to narrow the budget gap to below 4.5% by fiscal 2026. India’s fiscal deficit for FY25 stood at 4.8% of GDP, meeting the revised estimate.This comes amid the possibility of increased spending and income tax rate cuts to stimulate consumption in an economy expected to see its slowest growth in four years.The lower fiscal deficit target for 2025-26 was expected on hopes of strong tax collections, despite the government’s continued capex push that is crucial to shore up consumption and create jobs and help India achieve its aim to be world’s third largest economy by 2030.On the expenditure side, New Delhi spent about Rs 2.88 lakh crore on major subsidies such as food, fertilisers and petroleum. This was 75% of the revised annual aim, tad wider than 73% of budgeted expenditure in the comparable period last year.