House nod sought for Rs 7.5k-cr extra spend

A supplementary set of demands to the Union Budget for extra expenditure of Rs 7,500 crore, including Rs 1,000 crore for a women's bank and as much for a 'Nirbhaya Fund' for safety of women, was tabled in Parliament on Friday.

These were tabled by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha. The government says the additional cash outgo would be only Rs 127 crore over the budget estimates on a net basis, as most of these new demands would be met from equal savings on other heads. The government's aim is to rein in the fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product for 2013-14, against 4.9 per cent in 2012-13.

This was the first budget supplementary for the current financial year. As much as Rs 1,830 crore has been sought for India's contribution to the International Monetary Fund. Also, Rs 500 crore would be provided to the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (Sidbi), to set up a credit guarantee fund. Another Rs 100 crore has been proposed for the India Microfinance Equity Fund of Sidbi, to provide equity and quasi-equity to micro finance institutions.

KEY DEMANDS FOR EXTRA EXPENDITURE

• Rs 1,000 cr To set up a women’s bank
• Rs 1,000 cr For a ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ for safety of women
• Rs 1,000 cr For the National Skill Development Corporation for extending training to youth
• Rs 500 cr For Sidbi to set up a credit guarantee fund
• Rs 200 cr For the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan
• Rs 100 cr For the India Microfinance Equity Fund of Sidbi, to provide equity and quasi-equity to micro finance institutions
• Rs 100 cr Grant to Aligarh Muslim University
• Rs 100 cr Grant to Banaras Hindu University
• Rs 1.830 cr For India’s contribution to the International Monetary Fund

The National Skill Development Corporation is to get Rs 1,000 crore for extending training to youth. As for the women’s bank mentioned earlier, it is supposed to be operational by November.