KEY TO BUDGET DOCUMENTS
BUDGET 2017-2018

1. The list of Budget documents presented to the Parliament, besides the Finance Minister's Budget

Speech, are the following:

A. Annual Financial Statement (AFS)

B. Demands for Grants (DG)

C. Appropriation Bill

D. Finance Bill

E. Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Finance Bill

F. Macro-Economic Framework Statement

G. Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement

H. Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement

I. Medium Term Expenditure Framework Statement- (to be presented in parliament in the

Session after the Budget session).

J. Expenditure Profile

K. Expenditure Budget

L. Receipts Budget

M. Budget at a Glance

N. Highlights of Budget- Key Features.

O. Outcome Budget

The documents shown at Serial A, B, C and D are mandated by Art. 112,113, 114(3) and 110(a) of the

Constitution of India respectively, while the documents at Serial F, G, H and I are presented as per the provisions

of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. Other documents are in the nature of explanatory

statements supporting the mandated documents with narrative or other content in a user-friendly format suited

for quick or contextual references. Hindi version of all these documents is also presented to the Parliament. A

web version is hosted at http://indiabudget.nic.in, with hyperlinks, intended to make more efficient and userfriendly

access to all documents.

2. In addition to the above, the Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with

NITI Aayog from the financial year 2017-18, is preparing the consolidated Outcome Budget for all Ministries

and Departments. Further individual Departments/Ministries also prepare and present to the Parliament their

Detailed Demands for Grants and their Annual Reports. The Economic Survey which highlights the economic

trends in the country and facilitates a better appreciation of the mobilization of resources and their allocation in

the Budget is brought out by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The Economic Survey is presented to the Parliament ahead of the Union Budget. The web versions of these

documents are normally posted by the respective Ministries/Departments on their web sites.

1. This was earlier titled as Expenditure Budget Vol- I.

2. This was earlier titled as Expenditure Budget Vol- II.

3. A brief description of the Budget documents listed in para 1 is given below.

The Annual Financial Statement (AFS), the document as provided under Article 112, shows the estimated

receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for 2017-18 in relation to estimates for 2016-17 as also

actual expenditure for the year 2015-16. The receipts and disbursements are shown under three parts in

which Government Accounts are kept viz.,(i) The Consolidated Fund of India, (ii) The Contingency Fund of

India and (iii) The Public Account of India. The Annual Financial Statement distinguishes the expenditure on

revenue account from the expenditure on other accounts, as is mandated in the Constitution of India. The

Revenue and the Capital sections together, therefore make the Union Budget. The estimates of receipts and

expenditure included in the Annual Financial Statement are for expenditure net of refunds and recoveries. The

Union Government Finance Accounts also reflect expenditure in a similar manner.

The significance of the Consolidated Fund, the Contingency Fund and the Public Account as well as the

distinguishing features of the Revenue and the Capital portions are given below briefly:

(i) The Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) draws its existence from Article 266 of the Constitution. All

revenues received by the Government, loans raised by it, and also receipts from recoveries of loans

granted by it, together form the Consolidated Fund of India. All expenditure of the Government is

incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India and no amount can be drawn from the Consolidated

Fund without due authorization from the Parliament.

(ii) Article 267 of the Constitution authorises the existence of a Contingency Fund of India which is an

imprest placed at the disposal of the President of India to facilitate meeting of urgent unforeseen

expenditure by the Government pending authorization from the Parliament. Parliamentary approval

for such unforeseen expenditure is obtained, ex- post-facto, and an equivalent amount is drawn from

the Consolidated Fund to recoup the Contingency Fund after such ex-post-facto approval. The corpus

of the Contingency Fund as authorized by Parliament presently stands at `500 crore.

(iii) Moneys held by Government in trust are kept in the Public Account. Provident Funds, Small Savings

collections, income of Government set apart for expenditure on specific objects such as road

development, primary education, other Reserve/Special Funds etc., are examples of moneys kept in

the Public Account. Public Account funds that do not belong to the Government and have to be finally

paid back to the persons and authorities who deposited them, do not require Parliamentary authorisation

for withdrawals. The approval of the parliament is obtained when amounts are withdrawn from the

Consolidated Fund and kept in the Public Account for expenditure on specific objects. The actual

expenditure on the specific object is again submitted for vote of the Parliament for withdrawal from the

Public Account for incurring expenditure on the specific objects.

The Union Budget can be demarcated into the part pertaining to revenue which is for ease of

reference termed as Revenue Budget in (iv) below and the part pertaining to Capital which is for ease

of reference termed as Capital Budget in (v) below.

(iv) The Revenue Budget consists of the revenue receipts of the Government (tax revenues and other

Non Tax revenues) and the expenditure met from these revenues. Tax revenues comprise proceeds

of taxes and other duties levied by the Union. The estimates of revenue receipts shown in the Annual

Financial Statement take into account the effect of various taxation proposals made in the Finance

Bill. Other non-tax receipts of the Government mainly consist of interest and dividend on investments

made by the Government, fees and other receipts for services rendered by the Government. Revenue

expenditure is for the normal running of Government departments and for rendering of various services,

making interest payments on debt, meeting subsidies, grants in aid, etc.

Broadly, the expenditure which does not result in creation of assets for the Government of

India, is treated as revenue expenditure. All grants given to the State Governments/Union Territories

and other parties are also treated as revenue expenditure even though some of the grants may be

used for creation of capital assets. Revenue expenditure which results in the creation of capital assets

is reduced from revenue deficit to arrive at the Effective Revenue Deficit (ERD).

Effective Revenue Deficit(ERD) = Revenue Deficit - Grants for Creation of Capital Assets

(v) Capital receipts and capital payments together constitute the Capital Budget. The capital receipts are

loans raised by the Government from the public (these are termed as market loans), borrowings by

the Government from the Reserve Bank of India and other parties through the sale of Treasury Bills,

the loans received from foreign Governments and bodies, disinvestment receipts and recoveries of

loans from State and Union Territory Governments and other parties. Capital payments consist of

capital expenditure on acquisition of assets like land, buildings, machinery, equipment, as also

investments in shares, etc., and loans and advances granted by the Central Government to the State

and the Union Territory Governments, Government companies, Corporations and other parties.

(vi) Accounting Classification

* The estimates of receipts and disbursements in the Annual Financial Statement and of expenditure

in the Demands for Grants are shown according to the accounting classification referred to under

Article 150 of the Constitution.

* The Annual Financial Statement shows, certain disbursements distinctly, which are charged on

the Consolidated Fund of India. The Constitution of India mandates that such items of expenditure

such as emoluments of the President, salaries and allowances of the Chairman and the Deputy

Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, salaries,

allowances and pensions of the Judges of the Supreme Court, the Comptroller and Auditor-General

of India and the Central Vigilance Commission, interest on and repayment of loans raised by the

Government and payments made to satisfy decrees of courts etc., may be charged on the

Consolidated Fund of India and are not required to be voted by the Lok Sabha.

(i) Article 113 of the Constitution mandates that the estimates of expenditure from the Consolidated

Fund of India included in the Annual Financial Statement and required to be voted by the Lok Sabha,

be submitted in the form of Demands for Grants. The Demands for Grants are presented to the Lok

Sabha along with the Annual Financial Statement. Generally, one Demand for Grant is presented in

respect of each Ministry or Department. However, more than one Demand may be presented for a

Ministry or Department depending on the nature of expenditure. With regard to Union Territories

without Legislature, a separate Demand is presented for each of such Union Territories. In budget

2017-18 there are 100 Demands for Grants. Each Demand initially gives separately the totals of

(i)'voted' and 'charged' expenditure; (ii) the 'revenue' and the 'capital' expenditure and (iii) the grand

total on gross basis of the amount of expenditure for which the Demand is presented. This is followed

by the estimates of expenditure under different major heads of account. The amounts of recoveries

are also shown. The net amount of expenditure after reducing the recoveries from the gross amount

is also shown. A summary of Demands for Grants is given at the beginning of this document, while

details of 'New Service' or 'New Instrument of Service' such as, formation of a new company, undertaking

or a new scheme, etc., if any, are indicated at the end of the document.

(ii) Each Demand normally includes the total provisions required for a service, that is, provisions on

account of revenue expenditure, capital expenditure, grants to State and Union Territory Governments

and also loans and advances relating to the service. Where the provision for a service is entirely for

expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India, for example, interest payments (Demand for

Grant No. 37), a separate Appropriation, as distinct from a Demand, is presented for that expenditure

and it is not required to be voted by the Lok Sabha. Where, however, expenditure on a service includes

both 'voted' and 'charged' items of expenditure, the latter are also included in the Demand presented

for that service but the 'voted' and 'charged' provisions are shown separately in that Demand.

Under Article 114(3) of the Constitution, no amount can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund without

the enactment of such a law by Parliament. After the Demands for Grants are voted by the Lok Sabha, the

Parliament's approval for the withdrawal from the Consolidated Fund of the amounts so voted and of the

amount required to meet the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund is sought through the Appropriation

Bill. The Appropriation Bill is placed in parliament separately after the presentation of Budget, to be taken up

for passing after discussion / voting on the Demands for Grants.

The whole process, beginning with the presentation of the Budget and ending with discussions and voting

on the Demands for Grants, requires a sufficiently long time. The Lok Sabha is, therefore, empowered by the

Constitution to make any grant in advance in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of the financial

year pending completion of the procedure of the voting on the Demands. This is termed as 'Vote on Account'.

The purpose of the 'Vote on Account' is to keep the Government functioning, pending voting of 'final supply'.

The Vote on Account is obtained from Parliament through an Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill. In the

financial year 2017-18, a vote on Account would not be required as the Budget presentation is advanced to the

first of February, 2017.

At the time of presentation of the Annual Financial Statement before the Parliament, a Finance Bill is also

presented in fulfillment of the requirement of Article 110 (1)(a) of the Constitution, detailing the imposition,

abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of taxes proposed in the Budget. It also contains other provisions

relating to Budget that could be classified as Money Bill. A Finance Bill is a Money Bill as defined in Article 110

of the Constitution. It is accompanied by a Memorandum explaining the provisions included in it.

To facilitate understanding of the taxation proposals contained in the Finance Bill, the provisions and their

implications are explained in the document titled Memorandum Explaining the Provisions in the Finance Bill.

The Macro-economic Framework Statement is presented to Parliament under Section 3(5) of the Fiscal

Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 and the rules made thereunder. It contains an assessment

of the growth prospects of the economy along with the statement of specific underlying assumptions. It also

contains an assessment regarding the GDP growth rate, the domestic economy and the stability of the external

sector of the economy, fiscal balance of the Central Government and the external sector balance of the

economy.

The Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement is presented to Parliament under Section 3(4) of the Fiscal

Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. It outlines for the existing financial year, the strategic

priorities of the Government relating to taxation, expenditure, lending and investments, administered pricing,

borrowings and guarantees. The Statement explains how the current fiscal policies are in conformity with

sound fiscal management principles and gives the rationale for any major deviation in key fiscal measures.

The Medium-Term Fiscal Policy Statement is presented to Parliament under Section 3(2) of the Fiscal

Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. It sets out the three-year rolling targets for five specific

fiscal indicators in relation to GDP at market prices, namely (i) Revenue Deficit, (ii) Fiscal Deficit, (iii) Effective

Revenue Deficit (iv) Tax to GDP ratio and (v) Total outstanding Central Government Liabilities at the end of the

year. The Statement includes the underlying assumptions, an assessment of the balance between revenue

receipts and revenue expenditure and the use of capital receipts including market borrowings for the creation

of productive assets.

The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework Statement is presented to the Parliament under Section 3 of

the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003. It sets forth the three-year rolling target for

certain expenditure indicators along with delineation of the underlying assumptions and risks. The objective of

the MTEF is to provide a closer integration between the budget and the FRBM Statements. This Statement is

presented separately in the session next to the session in which Budget is presented, i.e. normally in the

Monsoon Session.

3.2 To facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the major features of the Budget, certain other

explanatory documents are presented. These are briefly summarized below:

(i) This document was titled Expenditure Budget- Vol- I till the previous year. It has been recast in line

with the decision on Plan-Non plan merger. It gives an aggregation of various types of expenditure

and certain other items across demands.

(ii) Under the present accounting and budgetary procedures, certain classes of receipts, such as payments

made by one Department to another and receipts of capital projects or schemes, are taken in reduction

of the expenditure of the receiving Department. While the estimates of expenditure included in the

Demands for Grants are for the gross amounts, the estimates of expenditure included in the Annual

Financial Statement are for the net expenditure, after taking into account the recoveries. The document,

makes certain other refinements such as netting expenditure of related receipts so that overstatement

of receipts and expenditure figures, is avoided. The document contains statements indicating major

variations between BE 2016-17 and RE 2016-17 as well as between RE 2016-17 and BE 2017-18

with brief reasons. Contributions to International bodies and estimated strength of establishment of

various Government Departments and provision thereof are shown in separate Statements. A statement

each, showing (i) Gender Budgeting and (ii) Schemes for Development of Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes including Scheduled Caste Sub Scheme (SCSS) and Tribal Sub Scheme (TSS)

allocations and (iii) Schemes for the Welfare of Children are also included in this document. It also has

statements on (i) the expenditure details and budget estimates regarding Autonomous Bodies and (ii)

the details of certain important funds in the Public Account.

(iii) Scheme Expenditure

Scheme expenditure forms a sizeable proportion of the total expenditure of the Central Government.The Demands for Grants of the various Ministries show the Scheme expenditure under the twocategories of Centrally Sponsored Schemes and Central Sector Schemes separately. The ExpenditureProfile also gives the total provisions for each of the Ministries arranged under the various categoriesCentrallySponsored Schemes, Central Sector Schemes, Establishment, Other Central Expenditure,Transfer to States etc. and highlights the budget provisions for certain important programmes andschemes. Statements showing externally aided projects are also included in the document. A descriptionof the expected outcome of important schemes along with the objectives and targets is given in theOutcome Budget brought out by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the NITI Aayog.

(iv) Public Sector Enterprises

A detailed report on the working of public sector enterprises is given in the document titled 'Public

Enterprises Survey' brought out separately by the Department of Public Enterprises. A report on the

working of the enterprises under the control of various administrative Ministries is also given in the

Annual Reports of the various Ministries circulated to the Members of Parliament separately. The

annual reports along with the audited accounts of each of the Government companies are also

separately laid before the Parliament. Besides, the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of

India on the working of various public sector enterprises, are also laid before Parliament.

(v) Commercial Departments

Railways is the principal departmentally-run commercial undertaking of Government. The Budget of

the Ministry of Railways and the Demands for Grants relating to Railway expenditure are presented to

the Parliament together with the Union Budget from the financial year 2017-18 onwards. The

Expenditure Profile has a separate section on Railways to capture all the salient aspects of the demand

for grants of Railways and other details of interest regarding Railways. The total receipts and expenditure

of the Railways are, incorporated in the Annual Financial Statement of the Government of India.

Details of other commercially run departmental under takings are also shown in a statement.

Expenditure is depicted in the Expenditure Profile and Expenditure Budget, net of receipts of the

Departmental Commercial Undertakings, in order to avoid overstatement of both receipts and

expenditure.

(vi) The receipts and expenditure of the Ministry of Defence Demands shown in the Annual Financial

Statement, are explained in greater detail in the document Defence Services Estimates presented

with the Detailed Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Defence.

(vii) The details of grants given to bodies other than State and Union Territory Governments are given in

the statements of Grants-in-aid paid to non-Government bodies appended to Detailed Demands for Grants of

the various Ministries. Statement 9 of the Expenditure Profile shows details of grants-in-aid exceeding `5

lakhs (recurring) or `10 lakhs (non-recurring) to private institutions, organizations and individuals sanctioned

during the year 2015-16.

The provisions made for a scheme or a programme may be spread over a number of Major Heads in the

Revenue and Capital sections in a Demand for Grants. In the Expenditure Budget, the estimates made for a

scheme/programme are brought together and shown on a net basis on Revenue and Capital basis at one

place. To understand the objectives underlying the expenditure proposed for various schemes and programmes

in the Expenditure Budget, suitable explanatory notes are included in this volume.

Estimates of receipts included in the Annual Financial Statement are further analysed in the document

"Receipts Budget". The document provides details of tax and non-tax revenue receipts and capital receipts

and explains the estimates. The document also provides a statement on the arrears of tax revenues and nontax

revenues,asmandated under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Rules, 2004. Trend of

receipts and expenditure along with deficit indicators, statement pertaining to National Small Savings Fund

(NSSF), Statement of Liabilities, Statement of Guarantees given by the government, statements of Assets and

details of External Assistance are also included in Receipts Budget. This also includes the Statement of

Revenue Impact of Tax Incentives under the Central Tax System which seeks to list the revenue impact of tax

incentives that are proposed by the Central Government. This document also shows liabilities of the Government

on account of securities (bonds) issued in lieu of oil and fertilizer subsidies in the past. This was earlier called

'Statement of Revenue Foregone' and brought out as a separate statement in 2015-16. This has been merged

in the Receipts Budget from 2016-17 onwards.

(i) This document shows in brief, receipts and disbursements along with broad details of tax revenues

and other receipts. This document provides details of resources transferred by the Central Government

to State and Union Territory Governments. This document also shows the revenue deficit, the gross

primary deficit and the gross fiscal deficit of the Central Government. The excess of Government's

revenue expenditure over revenue receipts constitutes revenue deficit of Government. The difference

between the total expenditure of Government by way of revenue, capital receipts and loans net of

repayments on the one hand and revenue receipts of Government and capital receipts which are not

in the nature of borrowing but which accrue to Government on the other, constitutes gross fiscal

deficit. Gross primary deficit is gross fiscal deficit reduced by the gross interest payments. In the

Budget documents 'gross fiscal deficit' and 'gross primary deficit' have been referred to in abbreviated

form 'fiscal deficit' and 'primary deficit', respectively.

(ii) The document also includes a statement indicating the quantum and nature (share in Central Taxes,

grants/loan) of the total Resources transferred to States and Union Territory Governments. Details of

these transfers by way of share of taxes, grants-in-aid and loans are given in Expenditure Profile. Bulk

of grants and loans to States are disbursed by the Ministry of Finance and are included in the Demand

'Transfers to States' and in the Demand 'Transfer to Delhi' and 'Transfer to Puducherry'. The grants

and loans released to States and Union Territories by other Ministries/Departments are reflected in

their respective Demands.

This document explains the key features of the Budget 2017-2018, inter alia, indicating the prominent

achievements in various sectors of the economy. It also explains, in brief, the budget proposals for allocation

of funds to be made in important areas. The summary of tax proposals is also delineated in the document. It is

broadly a summary of the announcements made in the Budget Speech.

The Detailed Demands for Grants are laid by the respective Ministries/ Departments on the table of the

Lok Sabha sometime after the presentation of the Budget, but before the discussion on Demands for Grants

commences. Detailed Demands for Grants further elaborate the provisions included in the Demands for Grants

as also the actual expenditure during the previous year. A break-up of the estimates relating to each programme/

organization is given under a number of object heads which indicate the categories and nature of expenditure

incurred on that programme, such as salaries, wages, travel expenses, machinery and equipment, grants-inaid,

etc.

At the end of these Detailed Demands are shown the details of recoveries taken in reduction of

expenditure in the accounts.

With effect from Financial Year 2007-08, the Performance Budget and the Outcome Budget hitherto which

were presented to Parliament separately by Ministries/Departments, were merged and presented as a single

document titled "Outcome Budget" in respect of each Ministry/ Department. From Financial Year 2017-18

onwards, the Outcome Budget of all Ministries have been combined into one single document and will be

brought out by the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the NITI Aayog. The Outcome Budget broadly

indicates the outcomes of the financial budget of a Ministry/Department, indicating actual deliverables linked

with outlays targetted during the year and in the medium term.

A descriptive account of the activities of each Ministry/Department during the year 2016-17 is given in the

document Annual Report which is brought out separately by each Ministry/Department and circulated to

Members of Parliament at the time of discussion on the Demands for Grants.

The Economic Survey brings out the economic trends in the country which facilitates a better appreciation

of the mobilisation of resources and their allocation in the Budget. The Survey analyses the trends in agricultural

and industrial production, infrastructure, employment, money supply, prices, imports, exports, foreign exchange

reserves and other relevant economic factors which have a bearing on the Budget, and is presented to the

Parliament ahead of the Budget for the ensuing year.

The Budget of the Central Government is not merely a statement of receipts and expenditure. Since

Independence, it has become a significant statement of government policy. The Budget reflects and shapes,

and is, in turn, shaped by the country's economy. For a better appreciation of the impact of government

receipts and expenditure on the other sectors of the economy, it is necessary to group them in terms of certain

economic magnitudes, for example, how much is set aside for capital formation, how much is spent directly by

the Government and how much is transferred by Government to other sectors of the economy by way of

grants, loans, etc. This analysis is contained in the Economic and Functional Classification of the Central

Government Budget which is brought out by the Ministry of Finance separately.