In just over four months into the new financial year, the Government has come out with its first batch of supplementary demand for grants for 2011-12, involving an additional expenditure of Rs 34,724.50 crore. The additional expenditure includes a net cash outgo of Rs 9,016.06 crore.

The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, introduced the first batch of supplementary demand for grants for 2011-12 in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The net cash outgo of Rs 9,016.06 crore will not have any adverse impact on the fiscal deficit projected in budget estimates 2011-12, as there would be overall savings in other grants, Mr Mukherjee said.

Allocations

Of the cash outgo of Rs 9,016.06 crore, as much as Rs 2,300 crore will go to Members of Parliament (MPs) towards increase in their annual allocation under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) from Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore a MP.

The Government will also spend Rs 434.64 crore for clearing pending claims (Rs 235 crore) of Air India. Besides the pending claims, a sum of Rs 199.64 crore is also proposed to be paid to Air India towards maintenance of Aircraft used for VVIP travel.

The Centre will also pay Rs 141.50 crore for settlement of bills pertaining to Air India, private air operators/ shippers for VVIP visits abroad and evacuation operations in Libya. This would be routed through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). A sum of Rs 121 crore has also been allocated for Indian Council of Cultural Relations.

The Government also proposes to transfer Rs 1,066.46 crore to ‘National clean energy fund' for meeting expenditure to finance various new projects relating to research in clean energy.

The Centre will also spend Rs 2,300 crore for meeting additional requirement for the BPL survey. There will also be a grant-in-aid general to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to meet the additional expenditure on enhanced rate of honorarium to Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi helpers.

Loans and advances

On the technical side, the Centre proposes to provide a loan of Rs 9,003.04 crore to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under new arrangements to borrow. A sum of Rs 1,609.79 crore is also being provided for making payment towards maintenance of value (MOV) to IMF.

While a sum of Rs 3,000 crore is being provided as ways and means advance to State Governments, there will also be additional central assistance of Rs 9,000 crore for external-aided project. For additional equity investment in the bonus shares issued by ONGC, a sum of Rs 1,585.74 crore is being provided as technical expenditure of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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