India's balance of payments showed an improvement with the total current account registering a net surplus of Rs 6,520 crore (Rs 65.20 billion) for the second quarter ended September 2002 compared to a deficit of Rs 5,265 crore (Rs 52.65 billion) in the same period of the previous fiscal.

The overall balance, which includes the current, capital accounts and errors and omissions, recorded a higher net surplus of Rs 23,935 crore (Rs 239.35 billion) in July-September quarter (Rs 2,283 crore in same period of last year), Reserve Bank of India said in a release in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The merchandise component in the current account showed a net deficit of Rs 18,745 crore (Rs 187.45 billion) in Q2 (net deficit of Rs 17,992 crore) while invisibles recorded a higher net surplus of Rs 25,265 crore (Rs 12,727 crore), it said.

Services, which form a part of the invisibles, has a net surplus of Rs 11,249 crore (Rs 4,481 crore) but travel showed a deficit of Rs 748 crore (Rs 506 crore surplus), it added.  Foreign investment under the capital account, however, had a lower net surplus of Rs 1,552 crore in the period under review (Rs 5,555 crore), the apex bank said.

For the six months ended September, the net surplus in the total current account stood at Rs 8,112 crore (Rs 81.12 billion) as against a deficit of Rs 6,892 crore (Rs 68.92 billion) while the overall balance witnessed a net surplus of Rs 32,088 crore (Rs 9,140 crore surplus).