FM Nirmala Sitharaman Asks Ministries To Expedite Capital Expenditure In Latest Review Meet: Report

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has directed specific important ministries to front-load their capital expenditure and potentially surpass the targets set regarding FY22.

Moreover, the ministries have been asked to settle their dues to MSMEs and PSUs at the earliest whilst also exploring the public-private partnership (PPP) method for appropriate projects.

The central government had allocated a sum of Rs 5.54 lakh crore for capex for FY22 in the Union Budget announced earlier this year.

Then, the finance ministry declared in April that Rs 44,000 crore would be additionally allocated through the discretionary corpus of the department of economic affairs to ministries that demonstrate positive progress in capex.

“This was the 5th review meeting by the finance minister with ministries/departments on the infrastructure roadmap ahead,” the ministry’s official statement was quoted by Financial Express.

It added, “During the meeting, capital expenditure plans of ministries and their CPSEs, status of implementation of budget announcements and measures to expedite infrastructure investment were discussed.”

Furthermore, Sitharaman has asked the telecom department and the road ministry to fast-track the expansion of high-level data connectivity projects and enhance connectivity in hilly regions, respectively.

Expedited implementation of the Vehicle Scrapping Facility is also believed to have found a particular mention in the Finance Minister’s remarks.