Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday called on officials to ensure that 14 state-owned companies spend 75 percent of their capital outlay for the year by the end of December.
This is because the government seeks to keep pace with capital and infrastructure projects in an attempt to soften the economic blow of the pandemic.
According to an official statement, Sitharaman held a videoconference with the secretaries of the oil and natural gas ministries and the coal ministry, as well as with the 14 PSUs of these departments.
“This was the fourth in the ongoing series of meetings that the finance minister is having with various stakeholders to accelerate economic growth in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The combined capex target for the 14 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) for Fiscal Year 21 is Rs 1.15 trillion. Sitharaman asked concerned secretaries to closely monitor their performance and make sure they spend 75 percent of their capital spending by the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year.
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Until the first half of the year (H1), these PSUs spent around Rs 37,423 crore, which was only 32%. In fiscal year 2019-20, against a capital investment target of 1.11 trillion rupees for the 14 CPSEs, they spent almost 1.16 trillion rupees or nearly 104 percent, according to the statement.
FM Sitharaman stated that more coordinated efforts are required at the secretariat levels of the concerned ministries and heads of CPSE to achieve Capex objectives.
While mentioning the important role of the CPSEs in driving the growth of the Indian economy, the Minister of Finance encouraged the CPSEs to perform better in achieving their goals and ensuring that the capital outlay for fiscal year 2020-21 is spend appropriately and on time. . He further said that better CPSE performance can greatly help the economy recover from the impact of Covid-19.
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