NEW DELHI : The central government’s total developmental spending in the last eight years was ？90.9 trillion, which went to items like capital expenditure for productive assets, food and fertilizer subsidies and social services, said a statement from finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s official Twitter account.

       The clarification comes in the context of opposition criticism about high taxes on petrol and diesel and the government’s welfare spending.

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       “RBI data shows total developmental expenditure incurred by Modi government in 2014-22 was ？90.9 trillion, far higher than is being alleged by some sections of the Opposition. In contrast, only ？49.2 lakh crore was spent on this during 2004-14," said the statement.

       The statement said quoting RBI figures that the expenditure incurred by the Modi government includes ？24.85 trillion spent so far on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies and ？26.3 trillion on capital creation. Over the 10 years of United Progressive Alliance (UPA), only ？13.9 trillion was spent on subsidies, the statement alleged.

       “The developmental expenditure incurred by the Modi government of ？90.9 trillion so far is over and above the ？93,685.68 crore already spent between 2014-22 on repaying the UPA-era oil bonds. Further, an additional ？1.48 trillion will be paid by 2026," the statement said.

       “It is clear then, that the collections from the fuel tax have been put to good use as developmental expenditure," said a government official who spoke on condition of not being named.

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       The clarification quoting figures from the RBI comes in the context of former finance minister P Chidambaram’s views expressed in a recent newspaper column about high taxes on auto fuel and financing of welfare measures, arguing that the poor pay for their own welfare.

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