Govt seeks Parliament nod for Rs 59,978 cr additional expenditure

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought Rs 550 cr for meeting security-related expenses in Jammu and Kashmir

Government on Wednesday sought the approval of the Lok Sabha for gross additional expenditure of Rs 59,978.29 crore as part of the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for the current financial year.

Presenting a statement showing the supplementary demands for grants in the House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that out of the total Rs 59,978.29 crore, the net cash outgo would aggregate to Rs 35,171.92 crore.

The rest would be matched by savings of the ministries and departments or by enhanced receipts or recoveries aggregating to Rs 24,805.34 crore.

As per the document tabled in the House, Rs 3,096.28 crore has been sought for transfer of Krishi Kalyan Cess to Krishi Kalyan Kosh and meeting additional requirement towards general component, special component of schedule Caste and tribal sub-plan under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The demands for grants also include Rs 861.65 crore for equity investment in Air India and carrying out accounting adjustments for conversion of loan, outstanding against Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, into equity.

Jaitley also sought approval of the House for Rs 1,000 crore for meeting additional expenditure of Coast Guard Organisation towards the acquisition of ships, aricraft, fleet and land.

The demand for grants also include Rs 2,500 crore for Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and Rs 210 crore for implementation of GST and project Saksham.

Approval has been sought for meeting expenditure for clearing pending claims for maintenance of Prime Minister's aircraft (Rs 193 crore), Cyber Security Research and Development Scheme of National Security Council Secretariat (Rs 50 crore), and Grants-in-General to National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention Help Desks (Rs 1.01 crore).

As per the document laid by the Finance Minister, Rs 550 crore has been sought for meeting expenditure under grants-in- aid towards security related expenditure of Jammu and Kashmir.

Lok Sabha approval has also been sought for Rs 4,000 crore expenditure to providing additional fund to MGNREGS.

Besides, Jaitley also sought approval for token provisions for enabling re-appropriation of savings in cases invloving new service or new instrument of service.