India allocates Rs200 crore for Bangladesh as development aid

India's budget for 2023-24, presented today, provides development assistance of Rs200 crore for Bangladesh, up by Rs30 crore from that of the last financial year.

However, the developmental financial assistance to Myanmar in 2023-24 has been slashed to Rs400 crore from Rs500 crore last fiscal, according to the budget document.

The largest share of India's aid portfolio in 2023-24 has gone to Bhutan with the allocation of Rs2,400 crore, which constituted 41.04 per cent of the Ministry of External Affair's development assistance in the coming fiscal beginning on April 1, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The Maldives got an enhanced allocation of Rs400 crore, up from Rs360 crore last year.

The budget tabled in parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated a total of Rs18,050 crore to the Ministry of External Affairs for 2023-24, which is an increase of around 4.64 per cent over last year's allocation of Rs17,250 crore.

The total outlay included Rs5,408 crore of development aid to various countries and over Rs990 crore towards India's G20 presidency.

According to the budget document, Nepal will get development aid worth Rs550 crore and Mauritius to receive Rs460 crore.

Sri Lanka, which is reeling under an economic crisis, will receive development aid to the tune of Rs150 crore while an amount of Rs250 crore has been set aside for African countries.