After two early Budgets, capital expenditure rises 48% in April

Lower carryovers led to a reduced revenue expenditure outlay for the central government

The central government’s capital expenditure (capex) in April 2018 saw a jump of 48 per cent, compared with the same month last year, the consequence of a second consecutive year of an advanced Budget. The biggest gainers as a result of this capex boost were the Ministries of Defence, Railways, and Road Transport.

Business Standard has learnt from senior government sources that capex for the first month of 2018-19 was around Rs 430 billion, compared with nearly Rs 290 billion in April 2017. Overall expenditure, however, dropped from Rs 2.42 trillion to Rs 2.31 trillion.

“Last April, there were higher arrears from