Page 430 - ES 2020-21_Volume-1-2 [28-01-21]

Fiscal Developments 57

realized through Offer For Sale (` 4924 crore- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), ` 771
crore- Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and ` 4474 crore- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), ` 2770 crore was yielded through buyback (` 156 crore- KIOCL,
` 1065 crore- NTPC Ltd., ` 173 crore- RITES Ltd., and ` 1376 crore- NMDC Ltd), and ` 1838
crore from other transactions. During the year, the Government announced the Atma Nirbhar
Bharat package that sought to redefine public sector participation in commercial enterprises.
The Government recognizes the need for opening up all the sectors to the private sector while
public sector enterprises play an important role in strategic areas. The focus of the Government
is to embark on a significant privatisation exercise of CPSEs and speeding up big-ticket strategic
sale/ privatisation of large CPSEs such as Air India, BPCL, CONCOR and SCI.

2.14 The expenditure policy during the year 2020-21 has focused on restructuring and
prioritisation of expenditure to meet the unforeseen expenditure demands arising due to
COVID-19. The total Government expenditure during April to November 2020 stood at 62.7
per cent of Budget estimate, compared to 65.3 per cent in April to November 2019. The revenue
expenditure has grown by 3.7 per cent during the first eight months of 2020-21 compared to the
same period in 2019-20. The monthly accounts data up to November 2020 shows that subsidies
registered a negative growth of 14 per cent during the first eight months of FY 2020-21 (refer to
Table 2). The Revised Estimates would give more clarity on the subsidy expenditure during the
current year. The decline in global petroleum prices acted as an important fiscal shock absorber
during 2020-21, as it led to a decline in petroleum subsidies and an increase in revenue collection
from excise duties (owing to increased excise duty levies on petroleum products).

Table 2: Expenditure on major subsidies

Rate of growth
Budget Estimate April to November over same period in
Items (In ` lakh crore) (In ` lakh crore) previous year
(April -Nov)
2020-21 2018 2019 2020 2018 2019 2020
Total Major Subsidies 2.28 2.19 2.35 2.02 6.3 7.3 -14.0
Food Subsidy 1.16 1.42 1.32 1.16 5.3 -7.2 -12.0
Nutrient Based 0.24 0.20 0.22 0.16 14.9 11.3 -29.6
Fertilizers Subsidy
Urea Subsidy 0.48 0.33 0.51 0.50 4.6 52.7 -1.8

Petroleum 0.41 0.23 0.30 0.20 8.1 27.7 -31.9
Source: CGA Monthly Accounts

2.15 In order to support the creation of long term assets and infrastructure, the Central
Government had enhanced the budget provision for Capital Expenditure on roads, defence,
water supply, urban development and domestically produced capital equipment by ` 25,000
crore for FY 2020-21. This is in addition to ` 4.12 lakh crore Capital Expenditure estimated in
Budget 2020-21. The capital expenditure during April to November 2020 has grown by 12.8 per
cent over the same period in 2019-20.