New Delhi, March 10 The government on Tuesday sought Parliament's approval to spend an additional net amount of Rs 2.01 lakh crore in the current fiscal year ending March 31, with a significant portion of the expenditure allocated to food and fertilizer subsidies.
According to the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government has sought permission for gross additional spending of Rs 2.81 lakh crore.
Of this, Rs 80,146 crore will be met through enhanced receipts or recoveries by ministries and departments, and the net cash expenditure will be over Rs 2.01 lakh crore.
In December 2025, the government had presented the first supplementary demands for grants seeking Parliament's approval for gross additional spending of Rs 1.32 lakh crore, and net additional spending of Rs 41,455 crore.
The government has sought Rs 19,230 crore for the fertilizers department and Rs 23,641 crore for subsidies under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).
Other major expenditure heads include Rs 41,822 crore for the defence ministry.
In the Revised Estimates for the current fiscal, the government has reduced the total expenditure to Rs 49.65 lakh crore, from Rs 50.65 lakh crore. According to data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government had spent Rs 36.90 lakh crore till January.
ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said that although the net cash outgo under the second supplementary demand for grants has been estimated at a significant Rs 2 lakh crore, this is likely to be largely offset by expenditure savings across ministries.
"For example, the Government of India's revenue expenditure needs to increase by a steep 30 per cent YoY during February-March 2026 to meet the FY2026 RE, which entails an incremental amount of Rs 2.3 lakh crore. Consequently, we do not expect any significant fiscal slippage on this account," Nayar said.