Govt seeks expenditure proposals for final supplementary demands for grants

Ahead of the Budget session of Parliament, the finance ministry has sought expenditure proposals for the second and final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants from various ministries and departments.

The final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2022-23 is proposed to be placed before Parliament in the ensuing session, the ministry said in an office memorandum.

The two-part Budget session of Parliament will commence on January 31 and the final Supplementary Demands for Grants is likely to be presented in the second leg of the session.

The cases that would be eligible to be incorporated under such demands include those where advances from the Contingency Fund of India have been granted.

Besides, payments against court decree would be included as well as cases where the finance ministry has specifically advised moving the supplementary demand in the winter session, the memorandum said.

"While processing proposals for supplementary Grants, the Grant controlling authority must invariably identify savings within the Grant so that the infructuous or inflated Supplementary Demands are weeded out and the eventuality of surrender after obtaining Supplementary Grant is avoided," it added.

The proposal for Supplementary Demand for Grants may be projected after a thorough and objective assessment of additional requirements of funds, it noted.

"All ministries/departments have been requested to contain the expenditure within the approved Revised Estimate ceilings," it said.

According to the memorandum, the proposals in complete form justifying supplementary demands to be included in the final batch should be forwarded to the Budget Division of the finance ministry by February 10, 2023.

Last month, Parliament approved the first batch of supplementary demands for grants permitting the government net additional spending of over Rs 3.25 lakh crore, which included over Rs 1.09 lakh crore towards fertiliser subsidy payout.

This additional spending was over and above the proposed amount in Budget 2022-23. As per the Budget, the government estimated a total expenditure of Rs 39.45 lakh crore for 2022-23 as compared to Rs 37.70 lakh crore for the previous fiscal.

Besides, approval for Rs 80,348.25 crore was cleared for meeting expenditure of the food and consumer affairs ministry mainly towards giving free foodgrains to the poor.

Approval was given for expenditure of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas towards payments of LPG subsidies to oil marketing companies and LPG connections to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, among others, totalling Rs 29,944 crore.