FinMin to start budgetary exercise Monday

The Finance Ministry will start the budgetary exercise on Monday, with the Expenditure Secretary meeting various ministries starting with Law and Justice and Information & Broadcasting.

The ministry will finalise the revised estimates for 2014-15 and Budget estimates for 2015-16 for Plan and Non-Plan expenses.

The meetings with various ministries will go on till December 12, according to an office notice. They will delve on the performance of past programmes and schemes to check actual performance against the estimates or targets.

The departments would be required to give projected physical outcome during 2015-16 and 2016-17 and financial resources required for that.

The meetings will also discuss "any new expenditure commitments arising out of the policy change, and disbursal and availability of funds at various tiers of scheme implementation", the notice said.

As the BJP-led NDA came to power in May, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present his first full Budget in February for the next financial year - April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.

The Plan expenditure is the government spending on social sector schemes such as Bharat Nirman, rural employment guarantee scheme and National Rural Health Mission. Besides, it includes Centre's assistance to various states and Union Territories Plans.

The non-Plan expenditure deals with outlay on subsidies, interest payment, salary, among others.

For the current fiscal, the government has proposed a Plan expenditure of Rs 5.75 lakh crore (Rs 5.75 trillion). The non-Plan expenditure is at over Rs 12.19 lakh crore (Rs 12.19 trillion).

Total budgeted expenditure estimates, including Plan and non-Plan stand at Rs 17,94,892 crore (Rs 17.95 trillion), higher than the revised estimates for 2013-14 at Rs 15,90,434 crore (Rs 15.90 trillion).