Last week, excise duty on petrol was cut by a record Rs 8 and on diesel by Rs 6 per liter last week to control rising inflation and provide relief to the people. The reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel will result in a loss of revenue of about one lakh crore rupees to the government.
Apart from this, a subsidy of Rs 200 per cylinder was given on LPG to about nine crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Also, in the current financial year, in addition to the Rs 1.05 lakh crore fertilizer subsidy set in the budget, the government has provided Rs 1.10 lakh crore to give relief to farmers due to the high prices due to shortage of fertilizers.
This raised fears that the government would take additional borrowings to make up for the shortfall in revenue.
However, official sources said the government has no intention of taking additional loans to meet the loss in revenue due to the reduction in duty at this time. The government will stick to the fixed plan regarding debt.
The government has estimated a loan of Rs 14.31 lakh crore from the market in the budget of the current financial year. Of this, Rs 8.45 lakh crore is expected to be raised in the first half (April-September).
The government has projected the fiscal deficit to be 6.4 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the current financial year on the basis of the borrowing program.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
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