The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund reported a substantial increase of 17.8%, rising from ₹7,173.03 crore in 2023-24 to ₹8,452.07 crore in 2024-25. This growth occurred despite a significant drop in domestic donations, which fell by nearly 30%, and a decrease in foreign contributions, which declined by over 18% during the same period. These figures are based on the fund’s audited financial statements for the respective fiscal years, released on Monday.
Which agency refunded? Were refunds done to evade accountability for faulty equipment? Why have accompanying notes to the audit report not been uploaded?,” she asked. Registered as a public charitable trust in New Delhi, the fund is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , with the defence, home and finance ministers as ex-officio trustees. It receives only voluntary contributions and no budgetary support. The fund has financed emergency healthcare measures, including oxygen plants and ventilators in central and state government hospitals . The government has maintained that PM CARES receives voluntary contributions and no money from state budgets.
The increase in the corpus was driven mainly by substantial interest income on fixed deposits, large refunds from implementing agencies, and negligible or just 0.01% expenditure during FY 2024-25, according to an analysis of the audited statement available on the PM CARES website. Transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj, who has previously sought greater disclosure on the PM CARES Fund through RTI s and courts, said in a post on X that the fund’s 2024-25 audit statement raised questions over its utilisation and transparency. “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 these payments were for and why these were refunded? The Union government set up the PM CARES Fund on March 27, 2020, to deal with emergency and distress situations, including the Covid-19 pandemic, and provide relief to those affected. It also launched the PM CARES for Children scheme in May 2021 to support children who lost parents or legal guardians to Covid-19, including through financial, educational and health care assistance.
In June 2020, the Prime Minister’s Office said the fund did not qualify as a “public authority” under the Right to Information Act, 2005, following RTIs seeking details of its functioning and finances.
