Centre seeks Parliament nod to spend Rs 2.71 lakh crore more in 2022-23

The Finance Ministry building situated in North Block, New Delhi.

The Union government has sought the Parliament's approval to spend an additional Rs 2.71 lakh crore on a gross basis in 2022-23.

In the second Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2022-23 tabled in Lok Sabha on March 13 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government said that the net cash outgo would be Rs 1.48 lakh crore.

The Budget session of Parliament reconvened on March 13.

The second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the current financial year follows December's first Supplementary Demands for Grants of Rs 3.26 lakh crore on a net basis.

The difference between the gross and net additional expenditure is due to savings and enhanced receipts to the tune of Rs 1.22 lakh crore, the government said.

A major chunk of the additional spending is broadly for four items. A sum of Rs 21,000 crore is to be spent on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertiliser subsidy, with another Rs 15,235 crore earmarked for urea subsidy payments.

To meet additional pension expenditure for the enhanced One-Rank-One-Pension scheme for the first two months of 2023, the Centre has sought approval for Rs 5,586 crore, with an additional Rs 28,137 crore asked for to pay for the scheme's arrears.

Up to Rs 29,617 crore is also being sought to pay GST compensation to states.

The Centre will also make an additional transfer of Rs 25,000 crore to the Universal Service Obligation Fund, which looks to provide affordable mobile and digital services in rural areas.