The transparency gaps in India's public finance — what we cannot see, and why
The Union Budget is the most detailed financial document India publishes — but it is not complete. Behind the line items that can be found and verified lie zones of deliberate opacity: classified defence expenditure, intelligence funds, off-budget borrowings, and public trusts structured specifically to avoid audit. This page documents what we know about what we cannot see.
Six Transparency Gaps · Classified, Off-Budget, or Unaudited
Home Affairs / IB / RAW
Secret Service Fund
Classified
Intelligence bureau operations. Budget demand listed but amount blacked out in public documents. No CAG audit published.
Ministry of Defence
Classified Defence Capital
~₹20,000 Cr (est.)
A portion of the ₹6.97L Cr defence budget is classified. Includes strategic weapons programmes, satellite infrastructure, and nuclear deterrent maintenance.
Prime Minister's Office
PM-CARES Fund
₹10,000+ Cr raised
Registered as a public trust, not a government fund. Exempt from RTI. Audited by private auditor, not CAG. Corpus and disbursement partially disclosed only.
Prime Minister's Office
PMNRF
Not disclosed annually
PM National Relief Fund. Older than PM-CARES. CAG does not audit. Receipts and disbursements are not line-itemed in Union Budget documents.
Ministry of Finance / SBI
Electoral Bonds (FY18–FY24)
₹16,518 Cr total
Discontinued by Supreme Court order (Feb 2024). During their operation, donor identities were not publicly disclosed. The full ledger was eventually released post-SC order. Included as a transparency gap for the record.
Various CPSEs / FCI / NHAI
Off-Budget Borrowings
~₹3–4L Cr (est.)
Borrowings by central public-sector enterprises on government guarantee, not appearing in the Union Budget fiscal deficit calculation. RBI has flagged this as a source of fiscal opacity.