NEW DELHI: The Centre expects to save Rs 1 lakh crore out of various schemes for which allocations were made in this year’s budget. It also feels it is comfortably placed to achieve its fiscal targets despite the recent excise duty cut on petrol and diesel.
“We have been carefully planned expenditure, being accountable for every penny and spending where the need is. We expect to save Rs 1 lakh crore on various schemes by the end of this fiscal. This may be adjusted against additional expenditure on other fronts. And we will comfortably achieve our fiscal target,” a senior finance ministry official said.
The expenditure budgeted for 2021-22 was Rs 34.83 lakh crore.
According to the latest data compiled by the Controller General of Accounts, the government’s total expenditure during the first half of this year is Rs 16,26,017 crore, which is 46.7% of the budget estimates.
It is not that the government is curbing expenditure; it’s that the Centre’s monitoring it well.
“For instance, we do not require spending on recapitalisation of banks this fiscal, which is to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore. There are many other similar fronts where we can save. We are using that money where additional allocation is required. So at this stage, going by the tax flow, we are comfortably placed and do not need extra borrowing, as speculated by many,” the official explained.
The Centre had pegged its gross borrowing target for the 2021-22 fiscal year at Rs 12.5 lakh crore. Of this, the effective borrowing in the first half of the fiscal year was Rs 7.02 lakh crore.
It expects to borrow the rest of the amount in the second half. The ministry has already initiated the budget exercise, starting with the process of revising their spending and revenue estimates for this year before placing demands for the next year.
Disvestment target to be missed
While it is quite happy with revenue collection, which it feels will exceed its target, the official admitted that the government may not achieve its divestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore this year, which remains a matter of concern.