Supplementary Estimate No. 05 of 2026 relating to the Ministry of Energy was approved by Parliament today (23) following a debate.

The Supplementary Estimate was presented to provide financial assistance of Rs. 17,213 million to provide relief to the public in relation to electricity bills, the Department of Communication of Parliament said. 

The funds required for the Supplementary Estimate have been allocated from provisions originally allocated to Line Ministries for 2026 but identified as unlikely to be utilized by the end of the year. 

Accordingly, the transfer of these provisions will be carried out without affecting either the overall expenditure ceiling approved under the Appropriation Act, No. 23 of 2025, or the Government’s maximum borrowing limit, the statement said.

The Supplementary Estimate was considered by the Committee on Public Finance yesterday (22), following which it received the approval of the Committee.

Meanwhile, the Promotion of Export Agriculture (Amendment) Bill, which was taken up for debate today, was also passed by Parliament without amendments.

The Bill was introduced to amend the Export Agriculture Promotion Act, No. 46 of 1992, the statement said. 

Although under the restructuring of the institutional structure of the Department of Export Agriculture, new positions were created and existing positions were upgraded, resulting in the designation “Director” being changed to “Director General,” the relevant provisions of the Export Agriculture Promotion Act, No. 46 of 1992, had not been amended accordingly. 

Furthermore, other related designations requiring amendment had also not been revised. The necessary amendments have therefore been introduced through this Bill.

Furthermore, the definitions of export agricultural crops referred to in the aforesaid Act as “notified agricultural crops” have become practically incompatible with current production and market conditions. 

Accordingly, the need had arisen to revise and update the relevant definition so that it is appropriate for the present and future export agriculture sector.

Accordingly, the Bill provides that, in place of the definition of the term “Export Agricultural Crop” in Section 19 of the Act, the term shall mean any crop identified as a crop that has an export potential in addition to the local consumption other than paddy, vegetables, fruits, root crops and additional food crops belonging to the category of food crops and declared by the Minister in charge of the subject as “a notified agricultural crop” under section 2 of this Act. 

It further provides that any crop identified as a plantation crop shall not be included in this definition, it added.