Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman.
| Photo Credit: ANI
With public capex taking a backseat in the first quarter of 2024-25 owing to the general election, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday kicked off an assessment of capital spending efforts by ministries as the Centre strives to meet its ambitious ₹11.11 lakh crore target through the rest of the year.
The Minister began the series of reviews with Ministries of Road Transport and Highways, and Telecom. They have been allocated a tad more than ₹3 lakh crore capital outlays this year. She emphasised that departments must expedite implementing and “make up for Q1 and Q2 (FY25) targets in Q3 itself”.
Urging ministries to pursue “meaningful creation of assets for public utility”, Ms. Sitharaman underscored the importance of setting quarterly targets and ensuring they are achieved within a stipulated time frame, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
Ministries’ assurance
Top officials from the Road Transport Ministry, with a ₹2.72 lakh crore capex outlay in the Budget, informed Ms. Sitharaman that they are taking steps to attract private capital and meet asset recycling targets.
With a capex goal of almost ₹29,000 crore, Telecom Ministry officials assured her that “all targets are on track and will be met in time”.