New Delhi: The External Affairs Ministry was allocated Rs 14,662 crore in the Union Budget, a cut of Rs 378 crore compared to last year, even as the focus of the outlay remained on development projects implemented by India in neighbouring countries including Bhutan and Afghanistan.
Out of the total allocation, Rs 4,720 crore has been given to the Ministry under plan outlay, while Rs 9,942.66 crore has been set aside as non-plan expenditure.
As per revised estimate, Rs 15041.08 crore was given to the Ministry in 2015-16 and the total allocation made for next fiscal is 2.5 per cent less than the last year's amount.
Rs 7,570.62 crore has been allocated for international aid programmes out of which Rs 5,490 crore has been earmarked for Bhutan, Rs 520 crore for Afghanistan and Rs 400 crore for Myanmar. Assistance to Maldives stands at Rs 40 crore.
Out of the total international assistance, Rs 4510 crore will be plan expenditure and Rs 3,060.62 crore non-plan expenditure.
An amount of Rs 300 crore has been kept for Nepal, Rs 230 crore for Sri Lanka, while Rs 290 crore has been allocated for development projects in African countries.
Separately, Rs 2460.58 crore has been earmarked for embassies and missions abroad and Rs 1,870 crore under the head 'Special Diplomatic Expenditure'. A non-plan expenditure of Rs 730.04 crore has been given for passport and emigration services.
Another Rs 337.20 crore has been set aside under the head 'Support to International Training/Programmes'. The government has also announced an assistance of Rs 200 crore for Nalanda university.
