India's external debt rose by 7.6 per cent to $440.6 billion in 2013-14 mainly due to rise in deposits by non-resident Indians (NRI), the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.India's external debt stood at $390 billion in the previous financial year."The rise in external debt was due to long-term debt, particularly NRI deposits. The surge in NRI deposits reflected the impact of fresh foreign currency non-resident deposits mobilised under the swap scheme during September-November 2013 to tide over the difficult balance of payment situation in the initial part of the year," the central bank stated.

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