FM Reviews Capex With Secretaries & Financial Advisors of Major Ministries

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : In order to assess the position of expenditure in the Government, especially capital expenditure, Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 27, 2019, reviewed the position of Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of select Ministries having large outlays here.

Some Ministries, which include Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Human Resource Development, receive Grant-in- Aid from the Budget but large part of the expenditure is made to create capital assets such as IITs, AIIMSs etc. The meeting was attended by Secretaries and Financial Advisors of all major Ministries.

To address the growth challenge, the Government has been holding wide ranging stakeholder consultations and has taken several steps to provide boost to the economy. The September 27 meeting was in continuation of a series of meetings held by Secretary (Expenditure) to review CAPEX as well as to ensure that due payments to contractors, GeM dues, and MSME dues are cleared. Another meeting is scheduled for September 28, 2019, with the Maharatnas and Navratnas.

Expenditure, both revenue and capital, made by the Union government provides a major boost to aggregate demand. Total expenditure of the Central government for FY 2019-20 through the budget is Rs.27.86 lakh crore. Of this, Capital expenditure is budgeted at Rs 3.38 lakh crore (12.2%) in BE 2019-20 as against revenue expenditure of Rs 24.27 lakh crore (87.8%).

During review, the Finance Minister impressed upon the Ministries/ Departments that regular payments must be cleared expeditiously as it spurs investment cycle. She emphasised that all efforts must be made to ensure that outstanding payments are cleared before the festival season, according to a PIB release.

Apart from the budgeted allocation under capital head of Rs. 3.38 lakh crore for 2019-20, the total amount given to Ministries/ Departments as Grant in Aid (GIA) for creation of capital assets amounts to Rs 2.07 lakh crore. Thus the total amount available for CAPEX for 2019-20 is Rs 5.45 lakh crore. Total CAPEX till August under capital head has been reported at Rs 1.36 lakh crore (40.28%) and that under GIA has been reported at Rs. 0.82 lakh crore (39.7%) totalling Rs 2.18 lakh crore (40%).