Apr-Feb fiscal deficit at 76 pc of revised estimate

India’s budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-February 2020-21 period stood at Rs 14.05 lakh crore, or 76 per cent of the revised estimates (RE).

This indicates that it is likely to remain within the projections made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month.

The 2020-21 deficit, the difference between revenue and expenditure, had been enhanced to Rs 18.48 lakh crore, as compared to the earlier target of Rs 7.96 lakh crore for the last fiscal.

As per the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data released on Wednesday, the fiscal deficit during the corresponding months of the previous fiscal was 135.2 per cent of that year’s target.

The Central government’s total expenditure stood at Rs 28.18 lakh crore (81.7 per cent of RE) while total receipts were Rs 14.13 lakh crore (88.2 per cent of RE).

Eight core industries’ production plunges in Feb

India’s eight major industries’ output plummeted during February 2021, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Index of Eight Core Industries’ reading for last month showed a decline of 4.6 per cent in output from an expansion of 6.4 per cent in the same month last year.

On a sequential basis, the output of eight major industries had expanded by 0.9 per cent in January 2021. ECI index comprises 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

These industries comprise coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity.

Apr-Feb fiscal deficit at 76 pc of revised estimate

On a sector specific basis, the output of coal, which has a weight of 10.33 per cent in the index, showed a decline of (-) 4.4 per cent in February 2021 over the same month of the previous year.

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