The government on Friday sought approval for additional spending of Rs 40,821.88 crore as part of the first supplementary demand for grants for 2015-16. The demand for grants that were tabled in Parliament by finance minister Arun Jaitley, sought a net cash outgo of Rs 25,495.24 crore, while the balance expenditure would be met through internal savings of the government. [related-post] Apart from the funds for bank recapitalisation, the government also sought Rs 820 crore for the ministry of civil aviation, which includes Rs 800 crore equity infusion in state-carrier Air India as part of the first batch of supplementary demand for grants. Additionally, it also sought Rs 600 crore for support for the MUDRA (Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency) Bank, including Rs 500 crore for refinancing and Rs 100 crore as equity. Meanwhile, the government also sought additional Rs 7,985 crore for social sector and development schemes, including Rs 3,600 crore for the Integrated Child Development Scheme and Rs 1,500 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission. The Centre also sought Rs 1,153 crore for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd as well as Rs 1,000 crore for Power Sector Development Fund financed schemes. Another Rs 1,000 crore has been sought for development of Chennai and Bengaluru Metro Projects and Rs 400 crore for clearing the pending subsidy claims towards import of edible oil, sugar mills and interest subvention. However, with global oil prices continuing to remain low, the Centre did not seek additional funds for paying under recoveries of oil companies. The Union Budget 2015-16 had targeted a total spending of Rs 17,77,477 crore this financial year.
