Govt seeks additional INR 51,462 crore in supplementary demand for grants
Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants in Parliament, seeking approval for INR 6,78,508.10 crore in additional spending for the government during financial year 2024-25
- NEW DELHI — Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled the second batch of supplementary
demands for grants in Parliament, seeking approval for INR 6,78,508.10 crore in
additional spending for the government during financial year 2024-25 that ends
March 31 this year.
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- This includes 52 grants and three appropriations. Of this,
the net cash outgo - the actual additional spending requiring fresh funding -
amounts to INR 51,462.86 crore, while the rest is being offset by savings and
enhanced receipts across various ministries.
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- The largest allocations include defence pensions (INR 8,476
crore), communications (INR 10,910.71 crore), finance (INR 13,449 crore), and
agricultural schemes (INR 6,044.76 crore).
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- The net amount sought by the government in 2024-25 will
cover the spending of INR 7,000 crore towards the Unified Pension Scheme, which
was announced during the ongoing financial year and will come into effect from
April 1.
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- The UPS, offered as an alternative to the National Pension
System, provides for a pension of 50 per cent of the last drawn pay for
government employees retiring after 25 years in service.
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- The additional funds will also be used towards the INR
12,000-crore Oil Industry Development Fund. The OIDC fund, announced in the
Union Budget for fiscal year 2025-26 presented in February, will cover the
shortfall in subsidy for liquified petroleum gas (LPG) to households and for
fertilisers to farmers.
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- The government would also allocate INR 2,185.63 crore for
additional expenditure towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi - the central
scheme which provides INR 6,000 per year directly into the accounts of eligible
farmers.
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- The Centre also seeks to allocate addition funds of INR
10,910 crore for the Department of Telecommunications, which includes INR 7,000
crore to the Universal Service Obligations Fund, and the remainder for other
expenses including the incremental pension to be paid to voluntarily retiring
employees of state-run telecom majors Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Ltd.
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- Besides, the government will allocate a INR 8,476 crore
outlay for pensions to defence forces personnel, which includes an expenditure
of INR 6,097.5 for the army, INR 820.8 crore for the navy, and INR 1,554 crore
for the air force.
