FM Sitharaman meets road, telecom ministries to review budgeted capex plans

In a move to push capital expenditure (capex) utilisation by ministries, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met officials of the road transport & highways ministry and the department of telecom (DoT) to review plans for their budgeted capex.

Sitharaman has urged the ministries to set up quarterly targets and ensure that they are achieved within a stipulated time frame. She also asked them to expedite implementation of projects, a press statement by the finance ministry said.

This was the first, in a series of meetings by the FM, to take stock of the progress being made by ministries with significant capital outlays in the coming days, the press statement added.

Budgeted capex allocation for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has increased by 90 per cent from Rs 1.42 trillion in FY20 to Rs 2.72 trillion in FY25.

The ministry told the FM that it was making efforts to attract private capital through various measures and ensure that asset recycling targets are also met.

The estimated budgetary capex allocation for the Ministry of Communication in FY25 stands at Rs 28,835 crore.

Telecom department, the press statement said, has outlined its targets for the BharatNet project, which aims at providing affordable broadband services to citizens in rural and remote areas.

The department also highlighted capex plans for the 4G saturation and other mobile tower projects, which seek to improve connectivity in uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas.

Sitharaman has asked the respective ministries to expedite implementation and make up for the first and second quarter target in Q3 FY25 itself.

Both the revenue and capital expenditures of the government showed negative growth of -2.3 per cent and -17.6 per cent, respectively, during April-July.

Chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran had recently said that government spending and capital investment had been brought down due to the model code of conduct for the general elections. This, in turn, had led to a slight slowdown in GDP growth in the first quarter of FY25.

The Union Budget, presented by Sitharaman on July 23, has kept the capital expenditure estimate unchanged from the interim Budget at Rs 11.1 trillion.