Government Seeks Parliamentary Nod For Rs 58,000 Crore Additional Funds

The Union government sought approval from Parliament on Wednesday for an additional spending allocation of Rs 58,000 crore, chiefly towards allocating more funds for the government-backed employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA, fertilisers and fuel subsidies.

The first batch of supplementary demand for grants for the financial year includes 79 grants and four appropriations, with a net outgo of Rs 58,378 crore out of the gross additional spend of Rs 1.29 lakh crore.

"Approval of the Parliament is sought to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 1,29,348.85 crore," according to the demand for grants statement that was tabled by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha. "Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 58,378.21 crore."

The balance of Rs 70,968 crore is matched by savings, which would help fund much of the additional spending and help meet the fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of the gross domestic product.

The government has also provisioned for a token amount of Rs 2.49 crore, with Rs 1 lakh for each item of expenditure, to enable re-appropriation of savings.

• Outgo under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: Rs 14,524.29 crore

• Nutrient-based fertiliser subsidy: Rs 13,350.81 lakh crore.

• Transfer to gaurentee redemption fund towards Exim Bank Loan guarentees: Rs 9,013.72 crore

• Meeting additional expenditure of defence services towards stores: Rs 8,493.86 crores; however, cash outgo is expected at Rs 3,624.10 crores.

• Additional allocation due to the extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: Rs 4,807 crore.

• Transfers to Jammu and Kashmir for meeting additional expenditure towards Central Assistance: Rs 3,170.00 crore

• LPG subsidy to poor households: Rs 8,500 crore

• Towards clearing the liability of the government on election-related expenditures: Rs 2,536.65 crore