The Centre proposes to make an equity infusion of ₹980 crore in state-owned Air India under a turnaround plan devised for the national carrier.
This forms part of the first batch of supplementary demand for grants for 2018-19 tabled by Pon Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Finance, in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Centre has, in the first batch of supplementary demand for grants, sought Parliament nod for gross additional spend of ₹11,697.92 crore, including a net cash outgo of ₹5,951.22 crore.
The proposed equity support of ₹980 crore for Air India will not involve any cash outgo, but would come out of the savings or receipts of the Civil Aviation Ministry under technical demand for grants.
Of the cash spends of ₹5,951.22 crore, as much as ₹1,792 crore will go to the Agriculture Ministry; ₹1,500 crore by the Textiles Ministry for meeting additional expenditure towards ‘other charges’ under Remission of State Levies scheme; ₹200 crore as balance amount of subsidy for Assam Gas Cracker project; ₹683.39 crore as subsidies for payment of pending liabilities of duty drawback scheme/CST and ₹600 crore for meeting additional expenditure towards payment of arrears of revised Time Related Continuity Allowance (TRCA) to Gramin Dak Sewaks. For the Agriculture Ministry, the cash spend will mainly be for subsidies of ₹1,200 crore under Market Intervention Scheme/price support scheme to meet interest financing liability.
Under the ‘Technical Supplementary Demand for Grants’, ₹1,058 crore is being allocated to Defence Ministry towards salary and allowances in respect of employees of Border Roads Organisation.
The Petroleum Ministry has been allocated ₹1,708 crore as grants for creation of capital assets under various schemes.
About ₹20 crore is being allocated to Department of Financial Services for acquisition of RBI’s stake in Nabard.
The Centre also proposes to waive loan and interest in respect of Hindustan Vegetable Oil Corporation for ₹463.31 crore.
The Food Ministry also proposes to spend ₹500 crore as subsidy under the schemes for Assistance to Sugar Mills and creation and maintenance of buffer stock of sugar (₹500 crore).
On Tuesday, Radhakrishnan also tabled in the Lower House the demands for excess grants for expenditure relating to 2015-16.
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