The corpus of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations ( PM CARES ) Fund rose 17.8% from ₹ 7,173.03 crore in 2023-24 to ₹ 8,452.07 crore in 2024-25, even as domestic donations fell by nearly 30% and foreign donations by over 18% in the same period, according to its audited statements for financial years 2023-24 and 2024-25 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.
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?
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 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. Earlier reporting noted: PM CARES fund saw 592% jump in donations in 2024-25 to ₹480 crore, spent 0.1% of that The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund saw the donations it received grow by 592% in 2024-25 to nearly ₹480 crore, as per the audited financial statements for 2023-24 and 2024-25, which it made available on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) after having failed to upload the annual disclosure documents since 2022-23. Earlier reporting noted: The PM CARES Fund, a public charitable trust established in March 2020 to support relief efforts during public health emergencies and other disasters, is chaired by the Prime Minister and funded entirely through voluntary contributions, as per information released by the Central government. Earlier reporting noted: Reacting to the belated disclosure, Anjali Bhardwaj, co-convenor of the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), said in her social media post: “Finally the audit statement of PM CARES Fund for 2024-25 has been made public! Key highlights — utilised only 0.01% of available ₹8,452 crore!”
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.
