During the ongoing winter session of the Parliament, the Government of India on Wednesday sought the Lok Sabha’s approval for an additional spending of Rs 1.29 lakh crore for FY24, which would be matched by savings of Rs 70,968 crore.
The Union Minister of of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary has said that the government is seeking net Rs 58,400 crore in supplementary demands for grants. Meanwhile, the rest would be managed by reshuffling expenses.
Further, the document tabled in the lower house revealed that the additional spending includes an expenditure of Rs 13,351 crore towards fertiliser subsidy.
Despite the additional outgo, officials expect the government to meet its FY24 fiscal deficit target of 5.9% of gross domestic product (GDP).
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 government had budgeted total expenditure at Rs 45 lakh crore for FY24, while its tax and non-tax revenue was pegged at Rs 26.3 lakh crore.
