Plan expenditure of two ministries — Power and Labour & Employment — may be retained at the current level of Rs 10,130 crore in the forthcoming Budget in view of the widening fiscal deficit.
The Planning Commission had recommended this to the finance ministry, since both the ministries are close to exhausting their outlays in the first three years of what they should be spending during the entire 11th Plan (2007-12).
“The Plan expenditure for ministries of labour and power may not see any increase in the 2010-11 Budget as the Plan panel has recommended so,” a source said.
This is despite the fact that the ministries have asked for increase in the Plan outlay.
“The Commission’s recommendations came in view of the pressure to bring down the fiscal deficit in 2010-11 from the projected 6.8 per cent during this financial year,” the source pointed out.
Earlier, Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen had said that with the Plan size of the current financial year, some ministries or departments would be either nearing or exceeding their 11th Plan (2007-12) expenditure targets in 2010-11 itself. Cutting down the power ministry’s demand for Plan expenditure increase of 36 per cent, the Plan panel has called for maintaining the outlay at Rs 9,230 crore in 2010-11.