Increased Expenditure
While the theme and focus areas give a direction, the core of any budget boils down to the numbers in the revenue and expenditure chart. The government is estimated to spend Rs 4,503,097 crore in 2023-24 which is 7.5 per cent over the revised estimate of 2022-23. Out of the total expenditure, revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 3,502,136 crore and capital expenditure is estimated to be Rs 1,000,961 crore. The increase in capital expenditure is due to an increase in capital outlay for transport by Rs 128,863 crore (36.1 per cent increase). A strong ground level infrastructure attracts investments.
The revenue expenditure relates to payment of salaries and interests. Rs 234,359 crore is estimated for pension payments. This is 4.3 per cent lesser than the previous fiscal. The interest payment for 2022-23 was Rs 1,079,971 crore which constitutes 24 per cent of government’s expenditure. This year the payment value is projected to increase by about 15 per cent.
There is an increased focus on central government schemes with Rs 1,467,880 crore proposed to be spent on central sector schemes and Rs 476,105 crore proposed to be spent on centrally sponsored schemes.
Ministerial allocations…
Allocation wise, defence has the highest with Rs 593,538 crore. This constitutes about 13.2 per cent of the budgeted expenditure of the government. Though it is the highest, the allocation is just about 1.5 per cent increase over the previous fiscal’s revised estimates. With private players entering defence, the industry itself has got a face lift. Several players have furthered the country’s prowess and 2022 marked several important milestones for the sector. This budget assures to keep the momentum live.
Food and PDS was allocated 4.6 per cent amounting to Rs 205,765 crore. This marks a decrease of 30.6 per cent when compared to previous year. This is mainly due to the reduction in food and fertiliser subsidy.
Financing Subsidies
The allocation to food subsidy is estimated at Rs 197,350 crore in 2023-24, a 31.3 per cent decrease over the revised estimate of 2022-23. Free additional food grains were given to beneficiaries during the covid years. That led to a raise in allocation during the years 2021-23. Though now this has been cut, the FM announced a scheme to supply free food grain to all priority households for the next one year starting from 1 January 2023. The entire expenditure of about Rs 2 lakh crore would be borne by the government.
Fertiliser subsidy has also seen a sharp decrease by 22.3 per cent amounting to Rs 175,100 crore. This is mainly due to two reasons. In 2022-23, there was a sharp increase in allocation responding to increased international prices of raw materials. The prices have settled now. There is also an increasing focus to promote alternate fertilisers and also to judiciously use chemical fertiliser.
