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The full Planning Commission meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will discuss the allocation of the gross budgetary support for 2004-05.
Operationalisation of programmes related to the National Common Minimum Programme in the remaining Tenth Plan (2002-07) period and a paper on strategies for the mid-term review will also be taken up at the meeting.
The allocation of Plan funds for the current fiscal, including an additional Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) for NCMP-related programmes, is to be decided at the meeting.
Apportioning the amount is likely to be a challenging task, as the demands from ministries are way above the amount available. The initial demands totaled around Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion). After being pruned to Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion), it is still higher than the amount set aside.
Higher demand is, however, not the only problem.
The low absorptive capacity of the education sector limited the amount of funds that could be provided to them. There was a lack of demand for funds from states where schemes were being implemented by the agriculture ministry, said officials.
The agriculture ministry, which had demanded Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) initially, scaled it down to Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) and further to Rs 450 crore (rs 4.5 billion).
The human resources development ministry also has its own list of demands. However, it is likely to get only a marginal amount over and above the cess funds allocated to it.
The introduction of new schemes, restructuring of schemes and expansion of existing schemes for meeting the objectives enumerated in the NCMP will be discussed at the meeting of the full commission, which is chaired by the prime minister.
The criteria for approval of schemes was likely to be discussed at the meeting, said officials.
The allocation for such schemes in the remaining part of the current fiscal is Rs 10,000 crore. Next year, provisions would have to be made for the full year, said officials.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said concrete shape would be given to the implementation of many assurances given in the NCMP at the scheduled meeting.
Many of the initiatives suggested in the NCMP had already been taken up for implementation, while important commissions and committees promised in the NCMP were being constituted, he had added.
Singh had also said the CMP was not a one-year programme, but a five-year one. If the economy did well over a period of time, additional resources to meet the objectives would be found.