Budget 2023: President’s household expenditure cut by ₹10 crore

The government has allocated ₹36.22 crore for the President’s household expenditure, which includes staff salaries, in the Union Budget for 2023-24, a sharp drop of ₹10 crore from the revised estimates of the current fiscal.

According to the budget document presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (February 1), ₹90.14 crore has been allocated for the President’s office and other expenses, which is an increase of ₹5.34 crore from ₹84.8 crore announced in the last budget.

Also read: Budget 2023-24: Eschewing populism on the face of it, but the fine print has a story to tell

The document shows that of the total allocation, ₹60 lakh has been earmarked for the salary and allowances of the President. At the same time, ₹53.32 crore is for the President’s Secretariat and ₹36.22 crore for the expenditure on the President’s household establishment, including staff salaries, which includes discretionary grants of the President.

In the last budget, ₹41.68 crore was allocated for the household establishment, which was increased to ₹46.27 crore, according to revised estimates for FY23.

Also read: Budget: How much sense does zero capital allocation for banks make?

The budget document presented on Wednesday shows that the allocation under the head for the next fiscal year is slashed by ₹10.05 crore, about 27%, to ₹36.22 crore from 2022-23.

The allocation for President’s Secretariat has been increased by ₹15.39 crore from ₹37.93 crore in the last budget to ₹53.32 crore, as per the document.

Also read: Budget will boost growth, provided budgeted capex materialises