Govt seeks Par nod for additional Rs 12,529 cr spending

NEW DELHI: Government today sought an additional sum of Rs 12,529.48 crore as first batch of supplementary demands for grants to meet the expenditure, mainly towards fertiliser subsidy and subscription for international bodies.

However, net cash outgo will aggregate to only Rs 500.71 crore, while the rest of the amount would be matched by savings and enhanced recoveries.

The first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants 2014-15 was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The government, however, did not seek any additional amount for meeting its fuel subsidy bill. This has become possible because of the declining prices of crude oil in the international market, which has helped in keeping the fuel subsidy bill check.

"Proposals involving net cash outgo of Rs 500.71 crore will not result in any significant variation in total estimated expenditure," it said.

The additional outlay towards fertiliser subsidy for urea has been pegged at Rs 5,000 crore, followed by Rs 4,187 crore as contribution towards International Monetary Fund and African Development Bank.

Besides, an allocation of Rs 2,057 crore has also been made for providing loans to IMF under New Arrangement to Borrow ( NAB) facility.

An additional allocation of Rs 3,000 crore has been made to the Ministry of Defence for meeting expenses of canteen store's department.

As per the Supplementary demand, Rs 500 crore has been provided as additional expenditure towards maintenance of National Highways.

The Supplementary demand further said that for Swaach Bharat Mission, the Centre will transfer an additional Rs 1,970 crore to the state governments.