Q.From the following data, calculate the Revenue Deficit: Revenue Receipts = ₹18,000 crore; Revenue Expenditure = ₹21,500 crore.

Revenue Deficit measures how much recurring expenditure exceeds recurring receipts, using only the revenue side of the budget.

Formula: $\text{Revenue Deficit} = \text{Revenue Expenditure} - \text{Revenue Receipts}$

Solve 1 (direct substitution):

Solve 2 (independent verification by re-arranging): if the Revenue Deficit is ₹3,500 crore, then Revenue Receipts + Revenue Deficit should reconstruct Revenue Expenditure: $18{,}000 + 3{,}500 = 21{,}500$, which exactly matches the given Revenue Expenditure figure — confirming the answer.

Apply the Revenue Deficit formula directly by subtracting Revenue Receipts from Revenue Expenditure; verify by adding the computed deficit back to Revenue Receipts and confirming it reconstructs the given Revenue Expenditure.

Subtracting in the wrong order (Revenue Receipts − Revenue Expenditure) — this must always be Expenditure minus Receipts, since a deficit exists only when expenditure exceeds receipts.