FM Nirmala Sitharaman Rubbishes Chidambaram's Claims On Fuel Tax, Cites RBI Data To Show ₹91-lakh cr Expenditure On Development Since 2014

Hitting back at former Finance Minister Chidambaram's claim that fuel tax collected has not be spend on welfare scheme, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Modi government has spent around ₹91-lakh crore as developmental expenditure since 2014.

Sitharaman pointed out that the expenditure incurred by the Modi government includes ₹24.85-lakh crore spent so far on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies, and ₹26.3-lakh crore on capital creation.

Sharing details of expenditure in a Tweet, Sitharaman pointed out that government expenditure since 2014 included more than Rs 26 lakh crore in the form of capital expenditure to modernise infrastructure and create productive assets, Rs 25 lakh crore for food, fertilizer and fuel subsidies, and Rs 10 lakh crore on social services such as health, education, affordable housing, etc.

Chidambaram had earlier claimed that while the Modi Government has earned Rs 26.5 lakh crore from fuel tax collections between 2014-2021, the total outgo on free food grain, cash allowances to women, PM-KISAN and other cash transfers is “no more than Rs 2,25,000 crore — which is less than the annual fuel taxes collected by the Centre alone.”

Sitharman said that the numbers posed by the former Finance Minister fall way short of the mark.