Interest income drives record ₹8,452 crore PM CARES corpus as donations fall

The corpus of the PM CARES Fund reached a record ₹8,452 crore by March 31, 2025, even as domestic voluntary donations fell sharply, according to the fund's latest audited accounts released in August 2026. The financial statements reveal a fund whose growth is now driven less by fresh contributions and more by interest income from its accumulated reserves.

The audited accounts for the financial year 2024-25 show the fund's closing balance stood at ₹8,452.06 crore, up from ₹7,173 crore at the start of the year. This increase occurred despite a roughly 30% decline in domestic donations, which fell to ₹479.04 crore from ₹681.8 crore in the previous year. Foreign donations also decreased, dropping 18% to ₹92.83 lakh.

The key factor enabling the corpus growth was substantial income from interest and refunds. The fund earned approximately ₹475 crore in interest from its bank holdings, with ₹469.37 crore coming from fixed deposits alone. This interest income nearly matched the total domestic donations received during the year. Additionally, the fund received ₹324.66 crore in refunds from implementing agencies and ₹13.49 lakh as a tax refund on interest.