FM presents first batch of supplementary demands; seeks additional INR 2.35 lakh cr

New Delhi, Sep. 14 (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday sought the Parliament nod for additional spending of INR 2.35 lakh crore, which include cash outgo of INR 1.66 lakh crore, primarily to meet expenses for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the total cash outgo INR 40,000 crore is towards enhanced expenditure under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and INR 33,771.48 crore have been sought for direct benefit transfer under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme.

As part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana INR 33,771.48 crore have been transferred to beneficiaries of both women Jan Dhan Account holders and Old Age Pension holders.

“For providing Grants-in-aid General for Direct Benefit Transfer to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna Women Accounts Holders (INR 30,956.98 crore) and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension (INR 2,814.50 crore) under the scheme National Social Assistance Programme,” the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21 tabled in the Lok Sabha said.

The government has also sought INR 46,602.43 crore towards providing additional allocation under Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant to the states as per recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

The first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2020-21 includes 54 Grants and 1 Appropriations.

“Approval of the Parliament is sought to authorise gross additional expenditure of INR 2,35,852.87 crore. Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to INR 1,66,983.91 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries/Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to INR 68,868.33 crore,” it said.

To augment the health infrastructure to combat Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the government has sought INR 14,231.96 crore including INR 5,915.49 crore for meeting additional expenditure towards Grants-in-aid General for containment of pandemic and INR 2,475 crore to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

For meeting expenditure towards Grants-in-aid General under the scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) related to the Labour Ministry, the government has sought INR 4,860 crore.

With regard to meeting expenditure towards food subsidy to decentralized procurement scheme states under National Food Security Act, INR 10,000 crore has been sought from the Parliament.

For meeting an additional expenditure towards Grants-in-aid General to National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC) for the Guarantee Emergency Credit Line (GECL) facility to eligible MSME borrowers, INR 4,000 crore has been sought.

On May 20, the Cabinet approved additional funding of up to INR 3 lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 per cent through Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for MSME sector.

Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to INR 3 trillion to eligible MSMEs and interested Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) borrowers in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility.

For this purpose, a corpus of INR 41,600 crore was set up by the government, spread over the current and next three financial years.

The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31, or till the amount of INR 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier.