The foreign ministry has seen a good hike of 19 per cent in its fund allocations in the Union Budget 2015-16 as the main thrust remained towards various development assistance projects implemented by India in neighbouring countries including Bhutan and Afghanistan.
While Rs 12,620 crore (Rs 126.2 billion) was given by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Revised Estimates 2014-15, the allocation has been raised to Rs 14966.83 crore (Rs 149.66 billion) for 2015-16 for the Ministry, which is headed by Sushma Swaraj.
The major thrust of the ministry's budgetary allocation continues to be towards Technical and Economic Cooperation under which various development assistance projects are being implemented in other countries. Rs 9,107 crore (Rs 91.07 billion) has been alloted this year under this head as compared to the Rs 7,234.26 crore (Rs 72.34 billion) last fiscal.
Budget 2015: Complete Coverage
As much as about 61 per cent of the ministry's budget is allocated towards Technical and Economic Cooperation with other countries, ministry officials said.
The allocations under various heads include aid to Bhutan and Afghanistan of Rs 6160.20 crore (Rs 61.6 billion) and Rs 676 crore (Rs 6.76 billion) respectively.
While Sri Lanka gets Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion), Maldives' assistance stands at Rs 183 crore (Rs 1.83 billion), this includes both Plan and non-Plan allocations.
While Capital Outlay on Public Works/Housing which caters to construction/purchase of chanceries/residences abroad and Passport offices in India is at Rs 330 crore (Rs 3.3 billion), Secretariat (Headquarters) which deals with establishment expenses in headquarters and for outreach activities stands at Rs 297.98 crore (Rs 2.97 billion).
For establishment expenses of Missions/Posts abroad, a Rs 2265.01 crore (Rs 22.65 billion) budgetary allocation has been kept.
Image: The Parliament House; Photograph: Reuters
