Among the top 10 ministries, in terms of Budget allocation, the largest gap between the RE and provisional expenditure was recorded by the Ministry of Finance, where spending was ₹39,335 crore lower than estimated. The Ministry of Jal Shakti followed, with expenditure undershooting the RE by ₹19,331 crore during FY26.
Several other key ministries recorded sizeable spending shortfalls relative to their RE for FY26. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs spent ₹6,893 crore less than budgeted, followed by the Ministry of Education (Rs 4,967 crore), the Ministry of Women and Child Development (Rs 4,913 crore), the Ministry of Rural Development (Rs 3,984 crore), and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Rs 3,849 crore).
A handful of ministries, however, exceeded their revised spending targets. The sharpest overshoot was recorded by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, where provisional expenditure was ₹26,677 crore higher than the RE. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways followed, with spending exceeding the target by ₹18,595 crore.
Even as the Centre's receipts fell short of projections, lower-than-estimated spending helped narrow the fiscal deficit for FY26 to ₹15.19 trillion, compared with the RE of ₹15.58 trillion.
The ₹39,323 crore reduction in the FY26 fiscal deficit suggests that the government has likely met its target of containing the deficit at 4.4 per cent of GDP, provided nominal GDP for FY26 aligns with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's projection of ₹345.47 trillion. A clearer picture will emerge on Friday, when the statistics ministry releases the provisional estimates for FY26 GDP growth.
 "Illustration: Binay Sinha")