Govt cuts Plan spending for current fiscal by Rs 1 lakh crore

The government today cut Rs 1,07,066 crore from the budgeted Plan expenditure of Rs 5,75,000 crore for the current financial year due to a burgeoning fiscal deficit.
The Budget 2015-16, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today, stated revised estimates of Plan expenditure for 2014-15 at Rs 4,67,934 crore.
For the next financial year starting April 1, the government has kept the Budget estimates of Plan expenditure at Rs 4,65,277 crore.
"Non-Plan expenditure estimates for the Financial Year are estimated at Rs 13,12,200 crore. Plan expenditure is estimated to be Rs 4,65,277 crore, which is very near to the revised estimates of 2014-15," Jaitley said in his Budget speech today.

"The total expenditure has been estimated at Rs 17,77,477 crore. The requirements for expenditure on Defence, Internal Security and other necessary expenditures are adequately provided," he added.
The actual Plan expenditure was Rs 4,53,327 crore in 2013-14 which is much lower than Budget estimate of Rs 5,55,322 crore and revised estimates of Rs 4,75,532 crore.

According to the Budget document, the government has contained its fiscal deficit at targetted 4.1 per cent of GDP, or Rs 5,12,628 crore, for the current fiscal.
The revised estimates of the fiscal deficit released by Central Statistics Office has been worked out on the basis of advance estimates of GDP for 2014-2015 at Rs 1,26,53,762 crore.

The Budget estimate of fiscal deficit was Rs 5,31,177 crore for 2014-15.
Jaitley said: "The gross tax receipts are estimated to be Rs 14,49,490 crore. Devolution to states is estimated to be Rs 5,23,958 crore.
"Share of central government will be Rs 9,19,842 crore. Non Tax Revenues for the next fiscal are estimated to be Rs 2,21,733 crore."
With the above estimates, fiscal deficit will be 3.9 per cent of GDP and revenue deficit will be 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product, he added.