“I wish to reiterate that with all the additional provisions we are bringing through technical and cash supplementary demands, no member of Parliament should wonder whether I will be able to achieve the fiscal deficit target,” Sitharaman said.
The second batch of supplementary demands for grants entails a net cash outgo of Rs 2.01 lakh crore and an additional gross spending of Rs 2.81 lakh crore. The Lok Sabha approved supplementary demands through voice vote amid Opposition protests.
About Rs 80,146 crore of the gross extra expenditure will be met through savings of various ministries and departments or by enhanced receipts and recoveries, according to papers tabled in Parliament.
In the revised estimate for FY26, the government had allocated Rs 50,000 crore for the Economic Stabilisation Fund. The government earlier this week proposed to further bolster the fund size and it received House approval on Friday. The government’s spending for this fiscal year was cut to Rs 49.65 lakh crore in the revised estimate from the budgeted Rs 50.65 lakh crore. The West Asia war broke out just about a month after the latest budget was presented, complicating fiscal calculations.
“I would like to highlight that the proposed Economic Stabilisation Fund will provide fiscal headroom to allow India to respond to global headwinds such as the recent crises, unanticipated supply chain disruptions, unexpected shocks to sub-sectors of the Indian economy and any other event that may have significant fiscal implications,” Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha. “So, in anticipation of what cannot be foreseen, we are coming up with economic stabilisation measures,” she said.No fertiliser shortage
Sitharaman said the country has adequate fertiliser stocks for the upcoming kharif season and that the government has already initiated steps to ensure that there is no shortage of the vital input for farmers even in the rabi season that starts around October.
India had 17.7 million tonnes of fertiliser stock as of March 6, up 36.5% from a year earlier. The strong reserves will protect Indian farmers from any disruptions in the global supply chain, Sitharaman said. Fertiliser imports stood at 9.8 million tonnes until February this fiscal year, and purchases of more than 1.7 million tonnes are already lined up for the next three months.
As part of the latest batch of supplementary demands, the government sought approval for an additional fertiliser subsidy of more than Rs 19,000 crore to insulate farmers from any global price shocks.
A significant portion of the allocation is also directed toward the armed forces and rural employment. About Rs 41,430 crore is being allocated for defence services (revenue), the minister said, calling on the Opposition to back the move.
