The Centre’s fiscal deficit at the end of January stood at INR 9.8 lakh crore, or 63 per cent of the annual budget target for 2025-26, compared to 74.5 per cent in the year-ago period, Government data released on Friday showed. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit (the gap between expenditure and revenue) during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of GDP, or INR 15.58 lakh crore.
According to monthly accounts released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the Centre received INR 27.08 lakh crore (79.5 per cent of corresponding RE 2025-26 of total receipts) up to January 2026.It comprised INR 20.94 lakh crore of tax revenue (net to Centre), INR 5.57 lakh crore of non-tax revenue and INR 57,129 crore of non-debt capital receipts.
The CGA data showed that INR 11.39 lakh crore has been transferred to State Governments as devolution of share of taxes by Government of India, which is INR 65,588 crore higher than the previous year.
Further, total expenditure incurred by Government of India is INR 36.9 lakh crore (74.3 per cent of corresponding Revised Estimate 2025-26), out of which INR 28.47 lakh crore was on revenue account and INR 8.42 lakh crore on capital account. Out of the total revenue expenditure, Rs 9.88 lakh crore was on account of interest payments and Rs 3.54 lakh crore on account of major subsidies.
