PM CARES Fund: Key Findings from the Audited Accounts for 2024–25

PM CARES Fund: Key Findings from the Audited Accounts for 2024–25

The latest audited accounts of the PM CARES Fund for 2024–25 highlight significant changes in its contributions, expenditure and closing balance. According to the accounts, there was a sharp decline in new contributions and expenditure, while the fund’s closing balance increased to a record ₹8,452.06 crore.

Decline in New Contributions

¨     The PM CARES Fund witnessed a substantial decline in fresh contributions compared with the earlier years. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fund received significant contributions as individuals, organisations and companies supported emergency relief and healthcare measures.

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¨     Sharp fall in contributions: Total contributions declined to ₹479.96 crore in 2024–25, comprising ₹479.04 crore in domestic donations and about ₹92 lakh in foreign donations. Contributions had peaked at ₹7,678.70 crore in 2020–21.

¨     Spending at five-year low: Expenditure fell to ₹87.85 lakh, compared with ₹3,976.17 crore in 2020–21. About ₹87.84 lakh went towards the PM CARES for Children Scheme.

¨     Corpus reaches record high: The closing corpus increased by 17.83%, from ₹7,173.03 crore in 2023–24 to ₹8,452.06 crore in 2024–25.

¨     Interest-driven accumulation: The Fund earned ₹475.14 crore in interest, including ₹469.37 crore from fixed deposits, while receiving ₹324.65 crore as refunds from implementing agencies.

¨     Nearly 93% of the corpus, or about ₹7,846 crore, was held in fixed deposits.

PM CARES Fund

¨     The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund was established on 27 March 2020 as a dedicated fund to deal with emergencies or distress situations, including public health emergencies, calamities and other crises, and to provide relief to affected people.

¨     It is registered as a Public Charitable Trust, with the Prime Minister as ex-officio Chairperson and the Defence, Home Affairs and Finance Ministers as ex-officio Trustees.

¨     The Fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions and receives no budgetary support from the Government. Contributions qualify for 100% deduction under Section 80G, subject to applicable tax provisions, and contributions by companies/PSUs can qualify as CSR expenditure.

¨     The Fund is also exempt from the operation of the FCRA and can receive foreign contributions through a designated account.

Concerns/Issues Related to the Fund

¨     Low utilisation: Expenditure has fallen sharply even as the corpus reached a record ₹8,452.06 crore, raising questions about timely deployment during emergencies.

¨     Refund transparency: The ₹324.65 crore refund from implementing agencies calls for greater disclosure of project-wise utilisation and reasons for unspent funds. The available reporting does not identify the agencies or reasons for these refunds.

¨     Parliamentary scrutiny: The PMO told the Lok Sabha Secretariat that questions and matters concerning PM CARES are inadmissible under specified Lok Sabha Rules, citing the Fund’s voluntary-contribution-based nature. This has raised questions about the extent of parliamentary scrutiny of the Fund.

¨     Accountability framework: As a public charitable trust, the Fund requires clear and publicly accessible mechanisms for audit, disclosure and institutional accountability. The Fund states that it is audited by an independent auditor appointed by its trustees.