Expenditure Finance Committee
Also called: EFC · Topic: Government Budget, Fiscal Policy and FRBM · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) is a committee in the Union Finance Ministry's Department of Expenditure. It appraises (checks before money is committed) new central schemes and mid-sized projects. It asks whether the scheme is needed, whether the cost is realistic, how it will be funded, and what outcomes it will deliver. A cost threshold decides the route: mid-sized proposals go to the EFC, and much larger projects go to the Public Investment Board. The EFC only appraises. Final approval comes later from the competent authority: the minister, the Finance Minister, or the Cabinet or its committees, depending on the cost. This keeps public money from being committed without careful checking.
Example
Say a ministry plans a new central sector scheme of moderate cost. Its proposal first goes to the EFC, which reviews the cost estimates, the targets and how outcomes will be measured, and then sends it on for approval. A far bigger project, the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum in New Delhi, took the other route: the Public Investment Board appraised it, and then the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave final approval.
Don't confuse with
- Public Investment Board (PIB): this is also a Finance Ministry appraisal body, but it handles larger projects above the EFC's cost range. Don't mix it up with the Press Information Bureau, which only issues press releases.
- Public Accounts Committee (PAC): a committee of Parliament that examines spending after it happens, using CAG reports. The EFC checks proposals before money is committed.