Development outlay for Bhutan highest; allocation to Maldives sees cuts

New Delhi: In line with India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, Bhutan was on Tuesday allocated the largest share of Rs 2,068 crore as development aid in the Union Budget for 2024-25 while the outlay for the Maldives saw a sharp decline to Rs 400 crore from last year’s Rs 770 crore. The cut in allocation to the Maldives came amid strain in ties between the two countries since Mohamed Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, became president of the island nation in November last year. In the budget, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was allocated a total of Rs 22,154 crore for the fiscal 2024-25 as against last year’s revised outlay of 29,121 crore.

The same allocation was made to the MEA in the interim budget that was presented to the Parliament in February.

In the interim budget, the development assistance to the Maldives was pegged at Rs 600 crore.

According to the budget papers, the allocation now stands at Rs 400 crore. The outlay for Bhutan has been pegged at Rs 2,068 crore for 2024-25 as against Rs 2,398 crore in the revised estimate of 2023-24. After Bhutan, Nepal was allocated the second largest outlay of Rs 700 crore. An amount of Rs 245 crore has been set aside for Sri Lanka in 2024-25 as against last year’s Rs 60 crore. The allocation for Chabahar Port has also been maintained at Rs 100 crore, underlining India’s focus on connectivity projects with Iran.

In continuation with India’s special relationship with the people of Afghanistan, a budgetary aid of Rs 200 crore has been set aside for that country. The outlay for Afghanistan in 2023-24 was Rs 220 crore.

An amount of Rs 120 crore will be provided to Bangladesh under development aid while Myanmar will get Rs 250 crore in 2024-25 as against last fiscal’s Rs 320 crore.

According to the budget documents, Mauritius will receive Rs 370 crore while the amount for African countries has been pegged at Rs 200 crore.

The total development assistance to various countries and regions such as Latin America and Eurasia will be Rs 4,883 crore.

Separately, an amount of Rs 989 crore has been kept under the head ‘advances to foreign governments’.