Government To Spend Additional Rs 66,113 Crore In 2017-18
Of the additional gross expenditure sought, net cash outgo will be Rs 33,380 crore.
The government will spend an additional Rs 66,113 crore in the ongoing financial year, according to the second batch of Supplementary Demand for Grants tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Lok Sabha today.
Of the additional gross expenditure sought, net cash outgo will be Rs 33,380 crore. The remaining Rs 32,372 crore will be matched by the government through savings of various ministries or departments, the document said.
The government has sought Rs 20,530 crore for three state-run fertiliser companies—Fertilizer Corporation of India, Hindustan Fertilizer Ltd. and Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd—for writing off loans and interest payments, Bloomberg reported. It also requested Parliament to spend another Rs 4,800 crore on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
About Rs 960 crore is being sought for user charges to Goods and Services Tax Network and Rs 1,581 crore for meeting additional expenditure for Pay and Allowances of Air Force, said the document.
The government will also infuse Rs 212 crore in regional rural banks and has sought the equivalent amount in Supplementary Demand for Grants. There are 56 regional rural banks in India, according to the central bank’s website, which were set up to develop rural economy by providing credit for development of agriculture, trade, commerce, and industry.
The government has exhausted 96.1 percent of its fiscal deficit target in the first seven months. The gap between the government's earnings and spending stood at Rs 5.25 lakh crore in the April to October period, compared to the Rs 5.47 lakh crore target for the current financial year, as per the data released by the Controller of General Account.