Archive · 9 Nov 2025
Centre Earns ₹800 Crore from Scrap Sales in October, Surpassing Chandrayaan-3 Budget
Imagine the government had lots of old, unused stuff in its offices, like old furniture and papers.
Last month, they had a big cleaning event to get rid of it all.
They sold this old stuff as scrap and made a huge amount of money: 800 crore rupees!
This is even more money than it cost to send a rocket to the moon, Chandrayaan-3.
Since 2021, the government has been doing these big clean-ups every year and has made almost 4,100 crore rupees in total from selling scrap.
This cleaning not only brought in money but also made more room in their offices and helped them get rid of many old papers.
The Indian government earned ₹800 crore from selling scrap in October 2025.
This amount exceeds the ₹615 crore budget allocated for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Total revenue from scrap sales since the campaign began in 2021 has reached nearly ₹4,100 crore.
The October 2025 campaign freed up 232 lakh sq ft of office space and disposed of 29 lakh physical files.
The drive involved 84 ministries and departments and covered 11.58 lakh office sites.
- Who
- The Indian Central Government
- What
- Earned ₹800 crore from selling scrap during a month-long cleanliness drive, and nearly ₹4,100 crore since 2021. The drive also freed up significant office space and disposed of millions of files.
- When
- The recent campaign took place from October 2 to October 31, 2025. The overall initiative has been running since 2021.
- Where
- Across 84 central ministries, departments, and overseas missions, covering 11.58 lakh government workplaces in October 2025 and a cumulative total of 23.62 lakh offices since 2021.
- Why
- To institutionalize cleanliness, improve administrative efficiency, free up office space, reduce the pendency of files, and generate revenue through scrap disposal, aligning with the goal of clean governance and improved public services.
Government's Perspective
Impact Analysis
Financial Gains vs. Program Cost
Government's Perspective
The government earned ₹800 crore from scrap sales in October 2025, exceeding the ₹615 crore budget for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. This demonstrates significant financial returns from the cleanliness campaign.
Impact Analysis
While the scrap sales generated substantial revenue, the actual cost-benefit of the entire cleanliness drive, considering administrative efforts and resource allocation across 84 ministries, is not fully detailed to compare against the total generated revenue of ₹4,097.24 crore since 2021.
Efficiency and Clean Governance
Government's Perspective
The campaign, encouraged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is positioned as a mechanism to improve public services, cut waste, and institutionalize cleanliness and efficiency in government operations.
Impact Analysis
The disposal of 29 lakh physical files and freeing up 232 lakh sq ft of office space are tangible outcomes that could lead to improved administrative efficiency and better public service delivery, but the long-term impact and sustained improvement are yet to be fully observed.
- Total Earnings from Scrap (2021-2025)
- ₹4,097.24 crore
- Scrap Sale Earnings (October 2025)
- ₹800 crore
- Chandrayaan-3 Budget
- ₹615 crore
- Campaign Period (October 2025)
- October 2 - October 31
- Office Space Freed (October 2025)
- 232 lakh sq ft
- Physical Files Weeded Out (October 2025)
- 29 lakh
- Total Offices Covered (2021-2025)
- 23.62 lakh
- Workspaces Released (2021-2025)
- 928.84 lakh sq ft
