The Lok Sabha has given its nod for the Centre to spend an additional Rs 63,000 crore this fiscal including the net cash outgo of Rs 56,848 crore. A substantial part of the cash outgo would be towards subsidies for fuel, fertiliser and food.
The second-batch of supplementary demand for grants was approved by the lower house on Wednesday. The relevant appropriation Bill was also passed by Lok Sabha.
Replying to the discussions on the second-batch of supplementary demand for grants, the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said that the economy was in a difficult situation, “but that does not mean that we shall have to start eating lizard!”.
Mr Mukherjee asserted that the basic fundamentals of the Indian economy are still strong. At the same time, he also admitted that there are serious challenges such as how to manage the economy, come back to the path of fiscal consolidation, to control and bring moderate inflationary pressure.
For compensating the oil marketing companies towards estimated under-recoveries on sale of petroleum products, the Centre has provided Rs 30,000 crore in the second batch of supplementary demand for grants.
The net cash outgo towards fertiliser subsidies is estimated at Rs 13,778.93 crore. For food subsidies, the additional spend has been pegged at Rs 2,298 crore.