The government on Friday sought Parliament?s approval for spending R68,919 crore more than the budget allocation for 2010-11 (net extra spending) to meet the higher fund requirement for petroleum, food and fertilizer subsidies, defense pensions and the farm loan waiver scheme.
Most of these extra spending has been included in the revised estimates for 2010-11 and the net cash outgo will not result in any significant variation in the total estimated expenditure, the ministry said while moving the third supplementary demand for grants.
The gross outgo is pegged higher at R79,590 crore because it includes certain spending of technical nature, which are matched by savings or higher receipts and hence do not require fresh funds. The revised estimates for 2010-11 sees the fiscal deficit at 5.1% of the gross domestic product, an improvement from the 5.5% forecast at the beginning of the fiscal.
The third supplementary demands for grants tabled in the lower house (Lok Sabha) allocates R21,000 crore for petroleum subsidy, R8,000 as subsidy on both imported and locally made fertilisers and R9,000 crore for pension, family pension and gratuity for defense personnel and relatives.
In the revised estimates, the government had raised the subsidy given to fuel retailers to R 38,386 crore from a meagre R3,108 crore allocated at the beginning of the year. For fertilisers, the government had revised the subsidy to R54,977 crore from R49,981 crore.