NEW DELHI: The Union Finance Ministry, which has set June 7 as deadline for various ministries to send in requests for fund allocation, will consider only requests that were not covered in the Interim Budget. Also, major allocations will largely remain unchanged, a senior finance ministry official told TNIE. “There will be no major change in ministrywise allocation, but requests for those schemes that the (finance) ministry feels were either left out or were not covered in the Interim Budget, or projects under any new heads that require reallocation, will be considered,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources claimed there may not be much headroom to increase spending. The government’s total capital expenditure, including for public sector by way of Internal and External Budgetary Resources, was budgeted at a lower level in the Interim Budget for FY20 than the revised estimates for FY19. TNIE had earlier reported that the government may revise the revenue targets downwards.
This, however, will not stop it from launching new programmes and proposals. Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, “Grateful for every thought/idea that’s being shared by scholars, economists and enthusiasts through print, electronic and social media. I read many of them; also, my team carefully collates them for me.”
INDUSTRY DEMAND
Industry executives, in a blueprint to boost economic growth, had sought tax cuts, lower interest rates
nd bold reforms in land acquisition and labour laws.