The Finance Ministry has initiated the process of gathering expenditure proposals from various Ministries and departments for inclusion in the second and final batch of Supplementary Demand for Grants, ahead of the Union Budget scheduled for February 2024.
Central Ministries and departments have been instructed to submit their supplementary proposals by January 8, 2024. The Department of Economic Affairs stated in an Office Memorandum that the second and final batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2023-2024 is intended to be presented before the Parliament during the upcoming Budget Session.
The interim budget for 2024-25 is expected to be presented on February 1, preceding the general elections. Given its nature as a Vote-on-account, the budget is anticipated to primarily focus on expenditure proposals for approximately four months.
Sources indicated that following the general elections, a new government would be responsible for presenting a comprehensive budget in June or July this year.
The Office Memorandum emphasized the need for a thorough assessment of additional fund requirements while projecting proposals for Supplementary Demands for Grants. It advised Grant controlling authorities to identify savings within the Grant to avoid inflated or unnecessary supplementary demands.
As of the end of November in the current fiscal year, the Centre has incurred an expenditure of ₹26.52 lakh crore, accounting for 58.9% of the Budget Estimate (BE) for 2023-24. Out of this, ₹20.66 lakh crore was spent on the revenue account, while ₹5.85 lakh crore was allocated to the capital account.
On December 6, 2023, the Centre presented its first batch of supplementary demand for grants for 2023-24, involving an additional gross expenditure of ₹1.29 lakh crore. This resulted in a net cash outgo of ₹58,378.21 crore, with gross additional expenditure offset by savings of the Ministries/departments totaling ₹70,968 crore.
The first batch of supplementary demand for grants was passed by Parliament in December 2023, and President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the associated Appropriation Bill on December 24, 2023.
Supplementary Demand for Grants (SDG) refers to a statement presented before Parliament, indicating the estimated amount of additional expenditure necessary for a financial year, beyond the expenditure authorized in the Annual Financial Statement for that year. These demands can be token, technical, or substantive/cash in nature.