Govt clears additional public outlay of Rs 42,480 cr

Parliament today gave its nod to the second batch of supplementary demands for grants permitting government to raise public expenditure by an additional Rs 42,480 crore during the current financial year.

The demands for grants and appropriations bills were returned by the Rajya Sabha amid uproar casued by BJP and Left members over remarks by Minority Affairs Minister A R Antulay and on the issue of insurance reforms bill, respectively.

These bills were earlier approved by the Lok Sabha.

Through the second batch of supplementary demands for grants, the government sought extra cash expenditure of Rs 42,480 crore to boost the economy in the face of slowdown.

With the approval of the demands, the total public expenditure during the year would go up to Rs 9 lakh crore from Rs 7.5 lakh crore envisaged in the budget.

The government had already sought the approval of the government to raise public expenditure by Rs 1.05 lakh crore through first batch of supplementary demands for grants which was approved in October.

The second batch of supplementary demands for grants seeks a gross additional expenditure of Rs 55,604.83 crore, of which the net cash outgo would be Rs 42,480.10 crore.

The increase in public outlay was sought from Parliament within a fortnight of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announcing a stimulus package that included extra public spending by Rs 20,000 crore to boost economy, in addition to reducing excise duty by 4 per cent.