Nepal, Sri Lanka, Seychelles secure more funds under Budget allocation for MEA
- India-funded projects in the neighborhood received the bulk of the allocation for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the Union Budget.
Highlights:
- Nepal secured an allocation of ₹700 crore, which is a jump of ₹150 crore from the previous year’s allocation of ₹550 crore. Sri Lanka received ₹245 crore, an improvement of ₹95 crore over last year’s funding of ₹150 crore.
- The Seychelles, which had an allocation of ₹10 crore, got a boost with the infusion of ₹30 crore.
Dip in funding
- Bhutan, the largest recipient of the annual allocation under the MEA, has seen a dip in funding by ₹332.02 crore. Total funding for Bhutan this year stands at ₹2,068.56 crore.
- Bhutan and India are close economic partners and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Thimphu last week, when the two sides cleared 61 projects amounting to ₹4,958 crore.
- The slight reduction in the annual allocation therefore does not indicate a reduction in funding for projects in Bhutan.
- Dips in funding were seen for Myanmar, Mauritius, Bangladesh, and Mongolia. Conflict-torn Myanmar, which had an allocation of ₹400 crore last year, received ₹250 crore this year.
- Mauritius, with an allocation of ₹370 crore, has received ₹90.79 crore less than the previous year. The allocation for Mongolia, which earlier received ₹7 crore, has been scaled down to ₹5 crore.
- Allocation for Bangladesh has dropped by ₹80 crore to ₹120 crore.
- Both Afghanistan and the Maldives, with ₹200 crore and ₹400 crore, respectively, have secured the same allocation as last year.
Prelims Takeaway:
- India- Myanmar
- India- Bhutan