Public Finance (Central) Division

Public Finance (Central) Division is primarily engaged with all issues relating to the Central Plan of the Government of India. In this regard, this division is entrusted with the appraisal and approval of all public funded schemes and projects of the Central Ministries/Departments.

For all projects of the Central Ministries/PSUs with more than a budgetary outlay of Rs.500 crores, this division acts as the Secretariat for the Public Investment Board (PIB) headed by the Secretary (Expenditure) for appraisal of such projects. In case of projects, for pre-investment activities, the PIB appraises the project if the amount on such activities is more than Rs. 500 crore. Similarly, this division is responsible for holding of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) chaired by the Secretary (Expenditure) in case of all schemes of the Central Government where the budgetary allocation is in excess of Rs.500 crores.

The division is concerned for constantly improving the quality of public expenditure though better scheme/project formulation, emphasis on outputs, deliverables, impact assessment and convergence approach. A continuous endeavour is made to rationalize the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) and Central Sector Schemes (CSs) for optimal and focused use of public resources. This division is also responsible for preparation of outcome budgets for all Central Ministries/Departments in consultation with the NITI Aayog. This output-outcome framework shall be for all CSSs and CSs dealing with identified measurable outcomes in the relevant medium term framework and physical and financial outputs are targeted on a year to year basis. This division also communicates, in consultation with the Budget Division, the outlays for both Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes over a Finance Commission Cycle.

Financial restructuring of Central PSUs on the recommendations of the Bureau for Restructuring of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE) are also dealt in this Division. At the same time, it is engaged in working out modalities for financial assistance to CPSEs, quantification of their Internal and Extra Budgetary Resource (IEBR) generation as well as planned CAPEX for preparation of budget, finalizing modernization of plants and machinery to ensure more efficient production.

Various issues relating to Food, Fertilizers and Petroleum subsidy, including their quantification and extension of assistance to the stake holders are also dealt in this Division. The division is also engaged in active consultation with the stake holder ministries in shaping the subsidy policy of the Government by way of a dynamic rationalization process to ensure better targeting of beneficiaries, better efficiency, cost effectiveness and better delivery of services.

This Division also deals with various issues of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in coordination with the DBT Mission, aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries data base and use of the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) in order to have end to end digitized information on all central expenditures encompassing CSSs, CSs, subsidies and other expenditure. Public Finance (Central) Division is also the Secretariat of National Clean Energy and Environment Fund (NCEEF) and is tasked with holding meetings of Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) headed by the Finance Secretary for appraisal of eligible projects to get Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the NCEEF.

The above assignments of this division is handled in two units; (i) Public Finance (Central-I) and (ii) Public Finance (Central-II) headed by two Additional Secretaries and one Joint Secretary.

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