PM CARES corpus at Rs 8.4K crore, spending falls

NEW DELHI: The PM CARES Fund spent just Rs 87.85 lakh in 2024-25, even as the amount in the Fund rose by Rs 1, 279 crore to Rs 8, 452.07 crore, according to its latest audited accounts.

Key points

• The Rs 324.66-crore refund received in 2024-25 was almost 370 times the Fund's total spending during the year.
• Contemporary reporting based on the audited accounts identified `202 crore of this amount as relating to the purchase of 50, 000 Made-in-India ventilators.
• As the FY2024-25 accounts provide no project-wise or agency-wise break-up, the latest Rs 324.66-crore entry is less detailed.
• Almost the entire expenditure, Rs 87.84 lakh, was under the PM CARES for Children scheme.
• Refunds have been recorded in every financial year since 2020-21.

While it received Rs 324.66 crore in refunds from agencies that implemented its projects during the year, the spending was just 0.01% of the amount in the Fund at the end of the year.

Almost the entire expenditure, Rs 87.84 lakh, was under the PM CARES for Children scheme. The Fund additionally earned concerning Rs 475 crore in interest and received Rs 479.04 crore in domestic donations. Regarding Rs 7, 846.65 crore of the Fund's capital was kept in fixed deposits at the end of the year.

Notably, the sharp fall in spending comes despite the Government's stated purpose of creating the Fund in March 2020 to accord with "any kind of emergency or distress situation" and assist individuals affected by it.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Administration unveiled a Rs 3, 100-crore response package from PM CARES in May 2020 Rs 2, 000 crore for ventilators, Rs 1, 000 crore for migrant workers and Rs 100 crore for vaccine development.

For context, the Rs 324.66-crore refund received in 2024-25 was almost 370 times the Fund's total spending during the year. The accounts, nevertheless, record it only as "Refund from Implementing Agencies", without identifying the agencies or projects involved.

Refunds have been recorded in every financial year since 2020-21. They rose from Rs 25.03 lakh in 2020-21 to Rs 324.66 crore in 2024-25. The total over the six financial years was Rs 654.86 crore.

For context, the earlier accounts provide some details regarding these refunds. In 2020-21, Rs 25.03 lakh was returned by the National Disaster Management Authority as funds that had not been spent, along with interest. In 2021-22, refunds were linked to Covid infrastructure, including PSA oxygen plants, two 500-bed makeshift hospitals and RT-PCR laboratories.

In 2022-23, Rs 224.83 crore was recorded as refunds. Contemporary reporting based on the audited accounts identified `202 crore of this amount as relating to the purchase of 50, 000 Made-in-India ventilators. The remaining amount was from other sources.

As the FY2024-25 accounts provide no project-wise or agency-wise break-up, the latest Rs 324.66-crore entry is less detailed. The ventilator refund of Rs 202.88 crore in FY2022-23 needs to be seen alongside the original programme. While the FY2020-21 accounts recorded Rs 1, 311.34 crore as spending on ventilators, the administration had unveiled a Rs 2, 000-crore PM CARES allocation in May 2020 for 50, 000 Made-in-India ventilators.

Meanwhile, the Fund's income has changed sharply from the pandemic period. While interest income was regarding Rs 475.14 crore, in 2024-25, it received Rs 479.04 crore in domestic donations and Rs 0.93 crore in foreign contributions. Of this, Rs 469.38 crore came from fixed deposits.

Fresh donations, interest earnings and refunds supported the amount in the Fund grow despite the highly low spending. The Fund had Rs 7, 173.03 crore at the beginning of 2024-25. This rose by Rs 1, 279.04 crore to Rs 8, 452.07 crore by the end of the year.

For now, PM CARES corpus at Rs 8.4K crore, spending falls remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.