Parliament Approves Rs 58,378 Crore In Additional Government Spending For FY24 With Enhanced Support For Rural Employment And Farmers

The Parliament on Tuesday (19 December) sanctioned an additional spending of Rs 58,378 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2024.

A significant portion of this budget has been earmarked for MGNREGA and fertiliser subsidies.

The total additional spending would exceed Rs 1.29 lakh crore, with Rs 70,968 crore being matched by savings and receipts.

Following a short debate, the Rajya Sabha sent back the two appropriation bills to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The majority of participants in the discussion hailed from the Treasury benches, given that numerous Opposition members have been suspended from the House. Those Opposition members who were in attendance chose not to partake in the discussion.

After a brief debate, the Lok Sabha passed the supplementary demands for grants.

During the debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants in the Rajya Sabha, Pankaj Chaudhary, the Minister of State for Finance, underscored the primary elements of the first set of grant demands on Tuesday.

According to the demands for grants, the net additional spending by the government would be Rs 58,378.21 crore in the current fiscal.

The extra outlay encompasses Rs 13,351 crore for fertiliser subsidies and Rs 7,000 crore for the expenses of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is set to spend an extra Rs 9,200 crore, while the Ministry of Rural Development has allocated Rs 14,524 crore for MGNREGA, as part of the supplementary demands.

The Ministry of External Affairs has requested additional funding amounting to Rs 20,000 crore. This sum will be balanced against a decrease in expenditure exceeding Rs 9,000 crore.

In the entire financial year of 2023-24, the government has planned for the fiscal deficit to reach Rs 17.86 lakh crore, which constitutes 5.9 per cent of the GDP.

The fiscal deficit from April to October constituted 45.6 percent of the total annual Budget Estimate of the previous fiscal year.