Latest Union Budget Highlights for Expenditure Budget

1. Deficits:

1. Revenue Deficit: 1.5% of GDP

1. Fiscal Deficit: 4.4% of GDP

1. Transfer to States: The total amount that will be transferred by the Central Government to states is Rs.25,59,764 crore.  When compared to last year, the estimate has increased by 12.5%.

1. Total Receipts: Apart from borrowings, government receipts are expected to be 11.1% higher when compared to last year at Rs.34,96,409 crore.

1. Revenue Expenditure: When compared to last year, the revenue expenditure is expected to increase by 6.7%. The capital expenditure is expected to increase by 10.1% when compared to last year.

Union Budget 2024 Analysis on Expenditure

Here is the list of expenditures announced by the Finance Minister on 23 July 2024 on Union Budget 2024:

1. Allocation of Rs.11,11,111 crore for capital expenditure this year, which is 3.40% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

1. 2024-25 Financial Estimates
   1. Total receipts (excluding borrowings): Rs.32.07 lakh crore.
   2. Total expenditure: Rs48.21 lakh crore.
   3. Net tax receipts: Rs.25.83 lakh crore.
   4. Fiscal deficit: Estimated at 4.9% of GDP.

1. Social Security Improvements
   1. Employer expenditure deduction increase has been proposed towards NPS from 10% to 14% of employee salary.
   2. For opting the new tax regime, similar deduction up to 14% for employees in the private sector, public sector banks, and undertakings will be provided.

1. Administrative Costs and CSR
   1. Reasonable administrative expenses for the company can be counted as CSR expenditure.

1. Business Expenditure Claims
   1. As notified by the Central Government, proposed disallowance of expenses incurred as settlement fees for contraventions of law.

1. Life Insurance Companies' Non-Business Expenditure
   1. In computing profits and gains of a business, inclusion of any non-admissible expenditure under section 37 has been proposed, to be included in the profits and gains of life insurance businesses.

Union Budget 2024 Analysis on Expenditure

Meanwhile, the Interim Union Budget 2024 which was announced by the Minister of Finance on 1 February 2024, had the following data regarding expenditure:

1. Infrastructure Development: The outlay for development of infrastructure has been increased by 11.1% to Rs.11,11,111 crore rupees which would account for 3.4% of the GDP.
2. The revised estimate of the total receipts (except for borrowings) is Rs.27.56 lakh crore. Of this, the tax receipts are Rs. 23.24 lakh crore.
3. The revised estimate of the total expenditure is Rs.44.90 lakh crore.
4. The total receipts for 2024-25 (except for borrowings and the total expenditure) are estimated at Rs.30.80 lakh crore and Rs.47.66 lakh crore respectively. The tax receipts are estimated at Rs.26.02 lakh crore.
5.  The outlay for the 50-year interest free loan for capital expenditure to states will be continued with Rs.1.3 lakh crore.

Union Budget 2023 Analysis on Expenditure

The Union Budget 2023-24 mainly focuses on giving the necessary aid to the MSME sector, farmers, and entities falling under the Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

Public Capital Investment, healthcare, and banking along with Energy were also brought into focus and the necessary budget was provided for its growth. The states in India were also provided with the required financial assistance so that they can improve their investments in the economy.

The budget looks to strengthen the infrastructure with its focus on four priorities of: 

1. PM GatiShakti 

1. Inclusive Development 
2. Productivity Enhancement & Investment, Sunrise opportunities, Energy Transition, and Climate Action 
3. Financing of investments

Union Budget 2022 Analysis

The budget for 'Scheme for Financial Assistance to States for Capital Investment' was increased from Rs.1,000 crore to Rs.1,500 crore, as well as Rs.1 lakh crore has been allocated to help states improve their investments in the economy which will also include benefit such as interest-free loans for fifty years, and many more. States will also be allowed to have a fiscal deficit of 4% of GSDP, where 0.5% will be tied to reforms for power sector.

The Union Budget 2022 also announced that Rs.2.63 lakh crore as direct payment will be provided to more than 1.63 crore farmers to help them procure paddy and wheat. The Government will also help in promoting chemical-free farming where the initial focus will be laid down on farmer’s land in corridors along the Ganga River which will be 5 km wide.  The farmers will be given the necessary aids by NABARD by providing the required funds and merge capital to allow startups for agriculture and rural enterprise to grow. Apart from that, Kisan Drones will also be provided.

The Government of India will interlink Udyam, e-shram, NCS and ASEEM portals, and will provide additional credit under Emergency Credit Linked Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to more than 130 lakh MSMEs. The Indian Government also announced that ECLGS will be extended till March 2023, and the guarantee cover under this scheme will be increased by Rs.50,0000 crore to Rs.5 lakh crore. Micro and Small Enterprises to be facilitated under the Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) will receive an additional credit of Rs.2 lakh crore while under the Raising and Accelerating MSME performance (RAMP) programme, a total of Rs.6,000 crore will be rolled out.

The education sector also got a major look in, where under One class-One TV channel' programme of PM eVIDYA will now be telecasted on 200 TV channels in India.  

Public Capital investment also got mentioned during the Budget where it was announced capital expenditure outlay grew by 35.4% to Rs.7.50 lakh crore in 2022-23 from Rs.5.54 lakh crore in the current year. The government’s 'Effective Capital Expenditure' is estimated to be at Rs.10.68 lakh crore which is about 4.1% of GDP.

An additional amount of Rs.19,500 crore for Production Linked Incentive for the production of high efficiency solar modules so as to meet the aim of installing 280 GW of solar power by 2030.

100% of 1.5 lakh post offices will become a part of the core banking system, while Scheduled Commercial Banks will set up 75 Digital Banking Units (DBUs) in 75 districts.

Union Budget 2021 Analysis

Rs 34,83,236 crore proposed by government of India to spent in in 2021-2022. The government has spent Rs 34,50,305 crore in 2020-2021, it is 13% higher than estimate of budget.

5.1% of GDP targeted in Revenue deficit for 2021-22, 6.8% of GDP targeted in Fiscal deficit for 2021-22. The Indian government focus on to reduce fiscal deficit to 4.5% of GDP by 2025-2026.

Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution are the top highest annual increase in Ministry allocations in 2019-20.

Union Budget 2019 for Expenditure Budget Highlights

The Union Budget speech for 2019-20 was delivered by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 5 July 2019. 

The deficit estimated by the government in the budget is around 3.3% as opposed to the 3.4% which was announced in the month of February during the Interim Budget. The data used for the Interim Budget is based on the estimates which are revised during mid-year. The Budget, however, is based on the advanced estimates and thus, are expected to be more precise than the figures announced during the Interim Budget. 

The GDP which has been projected for 2019-20 is marked at Rs.211 lakh crore. This has been capped after assuming that there will be a growth of 12% over the GDP which was estimated for last year and capped at Rs.188 lakh crore. 

The disinvestment target has also been raised from Rs.90,000 crore (announced in the Interim Budget) to Rs.1.05 lakh crore to meet the goals in terms of revenue. 

The government has proposed to spend 13.4% over and above the estimate that had been revised for 2018-19. The revised amount stands at Rs.27,86,349 crore now. 

No new announcements were made by the Finance Minister for any major expenditure to ensure that the government's capacity is not overextended. 

Union Budget 2018 for Expenditure Budget Highlights

Some of the key highlights of Union Budget 2018 can be listed as follows:

1. Rs.2,000 crore for the development of 22,000 Grameen Agricultural Markets
2. Allocation doubled to Rs.1,400 crore for ministry of food processing
3. Agricultural export potential of the country expected to be $100 billion as against the current $30 billion
4. Rs.2,600 crore allocation for ground water irrigation scheme
5. Institutional credit for agriculture raised to Rs.11 lakh crore
6. Infrastructure investments estimated to be in excess of Rs.50 lakh crore

Significance of Expenditure Budget

Expenditure plays a major role in any union budget drafted by the government. A drastic increase in government spending and expenditure could widen the fiscal deficit and affect the economy. With that being said, inadequate spending could slow down investment and affect growth across various sectors in the country. It goes without saying that the government must strike a proper balance between revenue and expenditure in order to sustain economic growth across the country.

Fiscal Deficit and Possible Slippage

Fiscal deficit refers to difference between the government's revenues and expenditure. In the Union Budget 2017, the government set a fiscal deficit target of 3.2% for the current fiscal year. However, analysts across the country expect that the finance minister may announce a slippage from the fiscal deficit target mainly because of declining revenues. While capital expenditure has remained under control for the last year, lower revenues that followed the GST rollout in mid-2017 could very well be the reason behind this slippage.