New Delhi, Mar 13 (Agency) The central government has sought Parliament’s nod for additional spending to the tune of Rs 2.71 lakh crore in the current financial year ending March 2023. “Approval of the Parliament is sought to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore. Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 1,48,133.23 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries/Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to Rs 1,22,374.37 crore,” said the second Supplementary Demand for Grants tabled in Lok Sabha by MoS for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary on Monday.
The additional spending includes over Rs 36,000 crore towards fertilizer subsidy and over Rs 33,000 crore to meet defence pension expenditure. ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said that the net cash outgo under the supplementary demand for grants is dominated by fertiliser subsidiary, defence pensions, the telecom sector and GST compensation, which account for 73% of the total amount. “Although a portion of the net cash outgo of Rs. 1.5 trillion may be offset by savings under other heads, it has raised the likelihood of a modest slippage relative to the revised estimate of the FY2023 fiscal deficit of Rs. 17.6 trillion. Regardless, bond yields are likely to take a cue from global yields and the expectations of monetary tightening at the upcoming policy review,” she noted. The second leg of Parliament’s Budget session began on Monday on a stormy note with many opposition leaders sticking to their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into allegations levelled by US short-seller Hindenburg against business conglomerate Adani Group. The ruling party on the other hand sought apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his democracy remarks in London.