PM-CARES fund received ₹1,162.92cr but only ₹16.47cr spent during 2023-25
What's the story
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) had a total corpus of ₹8,452 crore by the end of financial year 2024-25, according to audit statements released on Monday. The fund received ₹1,162.92 crore as donations from within and outside the country in 2023-24 and 2024-25 but spent only ₹16.47 crore during this period. Nearly 93% of the total funds were held as fixed deposits at the end of FY25.
Expenditure details
Fund's expenditure during FY25
The PM CARES Fund reported an expenditure of ₹87.8 lakh during FY25, mainly for the PM CARES for Children Scheme.
Since its foundation, the fund has received ₹14,766.95 crore in donations and spent ₹8,133.29 crore till 2024-25, with the majority of the expenditure happening during the pandemic.
This scheme was launched in March 2020 to deal with "any kind of emergency or distress situation" in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Criticism voiced
Activist raises questions over fund keeping large sums idle
The fund has been criticized by opposition parties over transparency issues and its need when the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund already exists.
Activist Anjali Bhardwaj questioned why the PM CARES Fund was "keeping large sums of money idle."
She pointed out that only 0.01% of the corpus had been utilized and asked about ₹324 crore refunded by implementing agencies without clear information on their purpose.
"Which agency refunded? Were refunds done to evade accountability for faulty equipment?" she asked.
Twitter Post
Audit statement of PM CARES Fund
Finally the audit statement of PMCARES Fund for 2024-25 has been made public! Key highlights-
— Anjali Bhardwaj (@AnjaliB_) August 18, 2026
-Utilised only 0.01% of available ₹ 8,452 crore! Why is the PMCARES Fund keeping such large sums of money idle?
-324 crore was refunded by implementing agencies- but no info on what… pic.twitter.com/4wgrZc0c8r
Transparency debate
Why PM CARES Fund is not covered under RTI Act
The Union government has repeatedly said that the PM CARES Fund is not covered under the Right to Information Act.
In December 2020, it said in response to an RTI query that while the fund was "owned and established" by them, it didn't fall under RTI because of private contributions.
In September 2021, they told the Delhi High Court that PM CARES Fund can't be categorized as "the state" or a "public authority" under the RTI Act.