Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for fiscal year 2024-25, with the government seeking a net Rs 51,463 crore.
The second batch of supplementary demands includes 52 grants and three appropriations. The government has asked the Parliament to authorise a gross additional expenditure of Rs 6.79 lakh crore. "Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 51,462.86," it stated.
In comparison, the government had sought Rs 2 lakh crore in gross additional spending with Rs 78,673-crore net cash outgo in fiscal 2024.
The net amount sought by the government in fiscal 2025 will cover the spending of Rs 7,000 crore towards Unified Pension Scheme, which was announced during the ongoing financial year and will come into effect from April 1.
The UPS, offered as an alternative to the National Pension System, promises a pension of 50% of the last drawn pay for government employees retiring after 25 years in service.
The additional funds will also be used towards the Rs 12,000-crore Oil Industry Development Fund. The OIDC fund, announced in the Union Budget for fiscal year 2025-26 presented in February, will cover the shortfall in subsidy rolled out for liquified petroleum gas and fertilisers.
The government would also allocate Rs 2,185.63 crore for additional expenditure towards Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi—the central scheme to provide Rs 6,000 per year aid to eligible farmers.
The Centre also seeks to allocate addition funds of Rs 10,910 crore for the Department of Telecommunications, which includes Rs 7,000 crore to Universal Service Obligations Fund, and the remainder for other expenses including the incremental pension to be paid to voluntarily retiring employees of the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.
The government will also allocate Rs 8,476 crore for defence pensions, which includes an expenditure of Rs 6,097.5 for the army, Rs 820.8 crore for the navy and Rs 1,554 crore for the air force.
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