India's end-March external debt $475.8bn: RBI

MUMBAI: India's external debt stood at $475.8 billion as of end-March, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, the Reserve Bank of India said in a release on Tuesday.

India's external debt-to-gross domestic ratio (GDP) stood at 23.8 percent as of end-March, compared with 23.6 percent year ago.

"Excluding the valuation gains due to appreciation of US dollar against the Indian rupee and other major currencies, the increase in external debt by end-March 2015 over its end-March 2014 level would have been higher at $45.7 billion," the RBI said.

The country's ratio of short-term residual debt to forex reserves fell to 54.2 percent in March-end from 57.4 percent a year earlier, the RBI said.