Keeping a tight leash on finances, the finance ministry has asked departments and ministries to surrender any savings from their respective budget allocations for the current financial year by March 21.
“lt is therefore requested that the surrenders of savings under each unit of appropriation may be sent to this (finance) ministry so as to reach the Budget Division latest by March 21,” according to an office memorandum issued by the department of economic affairs on March 2.
The savings by departments could provide some cushion to the government, which could postpone the mega IPO of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to next financial year.
A delay in the LIC issue to the next fiscal could strain the government’s finances as it has factored in about Rs 60,000 crore receipts from the IPO in the revised (RE) disinvestment revenues for FY22. Already the disinvestment target for the current fiscal has been pruned to Rs 78,000 crore in RE from Rs 1.75 lakh crore envisaged in the budget estimate. So far in FY22, the proceeds from divestment have been a paltry Rs 12,424 crore.
While surrendering the savings, the excess or shortfall in recoveries, if any, in the respective Grants against the original estimates of recovery may also be furnished, the memorandum said.
“Although under gross system of budgeting, it is not necessary to surrender the recoveries, the excess or shortfall in recoveries is required for a review of the budgetary position with reference to the sanctioned provisions and to arrive at the net amount of surrender during the year.”
