Govt seeks Parliament nod to spend an extra ₹3.7 lakh cr
The government on Friday sought an approval for gross additional spending of ₹3.7 lakh crore for this financial year from the Parliament, as per the second batch of supplementary demands for grants tabled by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
While the net cash outgo will be around ₹3 lakh crore, the remaining amount will be met from the savings of government departments and additional receipts. The additional expenditure will be on account of food and fertilizer subsidies, export and production incentives and to repay Air India’s past dues.
As per the document, the Centre sought to infuse ₹62,057 crore into Air India Asset Holding
Co. Ltd, which holds the residual assets and liabilities of Air India after the privatization of the airline.
Permission was also sought for spending an extra ₹2,628 crore towards loans to Air India for recouping the advances from Contingency Fund of India.
For additional fertilizer subsidy, ₹58,430 crore has been earmarked for phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, and urea. In October, the Centre had extended the scheme for higher subsidy on phosphatic and potassic fertilizers for both the Kharif and Rabi seasons, as well as to support farmers for winter sowing.
To meet the spending on storage of foodgrain and warehousing, it sought clearance for an additional ₹49,805 crore. Other key components include ₹22,038 crore to create rural jobs, ₹4,900 crore for police reforms, ₹14,000 crore for housing and urban affairs and ₹7,807 crore for textile ministry schemes, including cotton procurement and production-linked incentive scheme.
Sitharaman had pegged the fiscal deficit at ₹15 lakh crore or 6.8% of GDP for FY22.