Centre seeks house approval for extra net spending of Rs 58,378 cr
fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023-24.
The demands involve gross additional spending of more than ₹1.29 lakh crore in this fiscal, a significant chunk of which, ₹70,968 crore, will be met through savings or enhanced receipts of various ministries and departments, according to the papers tabled in both houses of Parliament.
Late last month, officials had said overall revenue collections were expected to remain robust this fiscal, while additional outgo under some programmes or heads could be significantly offset by savings in others and reprioritisation of expenditures.
The Centre's fiscal deficit in the first seven months of this fiscal hit 45% of the full-year target, a tad lower from 45.6% a year before, indicating that the deficit was under control.
The government had budgeted total expenditure at ₹45 lakh crore for 2023-24, while its tax and non-tax revenue was pegged at ₹26.3 lakh crore.
The net outgo under the first batch of supplementary demands for grants in 2023-24 is way below the level a year before, when the government had sought clearance for a net spending of ₹3.26 lakh crore and gross expenditure of ₹4.36 lakh crore.
However, this was because the 2022-23 budget calculations went haywire after the Ukraine war broke out unexpectedly, leading to elevated global commodity prices that inflated the government's subsidy bill.
The latest supplementary demands include a total of 79 grants and four appropriations.
They were tabled in the Lok Sabha by minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary.
A large part of the proposed net cash outgo includes additional spending on fertiliser subsidy (₹ 13,351 crore), transfer to the external affairs ministry's Guarantee Redemption
