Govt seeks Rs 9,045cr additional grants

Comprising 37 grants for various ministries, the supplementary demands for grants tabled in both the Houses on Tuesday would involve a cash outgo of Rs 5,032 crore as the remaining Rs 4,013 crore would be matched by savings.

The increased outgo of Rs 3,806 crore provided to the rural development ministry would be for meeting additional requirements for supplying foodgrain under the sampoorna gramin rojgar yojana and the food-for- work programme particularly in the drought-affected states. The supplementary grants also provide Rs 500 cr for ways and means advances to the states facing financial crunch. As these advances were recoverable in the same fiscal, there would be no cash outgo. It provides Rs 442 cr to the fertiliser department for writing off loans and interest against ailing Madras Fertilisers (Rs 65 cr), Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (Rs 240 cr) and Hindustan Fertilisers (Rs 137 cr). It has also earmarked Rs 394 crore for providing assistance to Brahamaputra Valley Fertilisers Corpn to settle outstanding claims of input and gas suppliers of the Namrup unit and for providing assistance to Hindustan Fertiliser, Pyrites Phosphates and Chemicals to meet voluntary separation scheme payments. The supplementary demands for grants allocates Rs 472 crore to the coal ministry for conversion of non-Plan loan of Rs 44O crore into grants-in-aid and Rs 32 crore for accounting adjustments in Hind Copper. It has also provided Rs 298 crore to the commerce ministry for issue of compensation bonds against assignments receivable from the Iraqi government by the project exporters in favour of New Delhi.