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Parliament on Thursday passed the Appropriation (No. 3) Bill, 2026, which authorises the appropriation of money from the Consolidated Fund of India to regularise excess expenditure of Rs 54,067.46 crore incurred during the financial year ended March 31, 2023, beyond the amounts originally approved by Parliament.
The excess expenditure relates to two heads - repayment of debt amounting to Rs 53,871.01 crore and capital expenditure of Rs 196.45 crore under the Ministry of Railways. The Bill, which had earlier been passed by the Lok Sabha, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Replying to the discussion on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said bringing such legislation before Parliament is a normal constitutional process whenever excess expenditure requires approval. "Government of India has a practice of coming to the House because it has to get the appropriation cleared by the House whenever these excess demands happen," Sitharaman said. She noted that similar appropriation Bills had been brought before Parliament earlier as well, citing approvals sought in 2022 for excess expenditure related to the 2019-20 Budget, in 2023 for the 2020-21 Budget and in 2025 for the 2021-22 Budget. She said the present Bill similarly seeks Parliament's approval for excess expenditure relating to the 2022-23 financial year. Addressing concerns raised by some members, the Finance Minister said the excess expenditure had been properly accounted for and would not have a significant impact on the government's finances. "The fiscal implication is not severe," she said, adding that the required accounting adjustments had been carried out appropriately. She said the excess expenditure had already been identified and adjusted through the prescribed process before being brought before Parliament for approval. Sitharaman also rejected suggestions that excess grants were approved only for select sectors. She said the government seeks Parliament's approval irrespective of the department concerned, whether the expenditure relates to debt servicing, education, health or any other sector. She said such cases are brought before Parliament only after they have been examined through the prescribed process, including scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee, and reiterated that the government follows the same constitutional procedure whenever excess expenditure is incurred. (ANI)
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