New Delhi: As the main thrust remained towards various development assistance projects implemented by India in neighbouring countries, the foreign ministry has seen a good hike of 19 percent in its fund allocations in the Union Budget 2015-16.
These countries include Bhutan and Afghanistan. While Rs 12,620 crore was given by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Revised Estimates 2014-15, the allocation has been raised to Rs 14966.83 crore 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 has been alloted this year under this head as compared to the Rs 7,234.26 crore last fiscal.
As much as about 61 percent 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 and Rs 676 crore respectively.
