Govt seeks Parliament’s nod for additional Rs 201,143 crore spending in FY26

About Rs 30,000 crore is being sought for transfer to states.

The central government on March 10 sought Parliament’s approval for additional net cash expenditure of Rs 201,143 crore for FY26, in its second batch of supplementary demands for grants.

The additional net cash outgo approvals were mainly sought for meeting higher expenditure on fertiliser and food subsidies, amounting to Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 23,640 crore, respectively.

Around Rs 59,000 crore  is being sought for the "Economic Stabilization Fund". The ESF was set up by the Centre in 2025-26 specifically to meet unanticipated expenditure arising from "volatile global dynamics".

The total outlay for the fund is Rs 1 lakh crore. And Rs 42, 618 crore would be added to it, via savings of other ministries/departments.

About Rs 30,000 crore is being sought for transfer to states, and Rs 26,237 crore is being sought for revenue expenditure by the defence ministry.

The Centre has sought approval of the Parliament to authorise gross additional expenditure of Rs 281,289 crore. Of this, the proposals involving net cash outgo aggregate to Rs 201,142.96 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the Ministries/Departments or by enhanced receipts/recoveries aggregates to Rs 80,145.71 crore.

The Rs 80,146 crore expenditure – called Technical Supplementary Demands for Grants--will not add to the fiscal deficit, or require money to be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India. It’s a budgetary rearrangement that requires Parliament's approval only to formally move the money from one head (Savings/Receipts) to another head (New Expenditure), without demanding a single rupee of fresh, unbudgeted cash.