FM asks ministries to frontload capital expenditure

The minister held a virtual meeting with senior government officials to discuss the infrastructure roadmap ahead. This was the sixth review meeting by the Finance Minister with ministries and departments on the infrastructure roadmap.

While reviewing the progress, the Finance Minister asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to expedite the capital expenditure and make efforts for frontloading it, said an official statement, adding that the Steel Ministry was asked to frontload capex and facilitate private investment by providing support and removing bottlenecks.

Similarly, Sitharaman also asked the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to expedite monetisation of assets during FY 2021-22.

The Department of Space on the other hand was asked to focus on domestic procurement wherever possible.

Sitharaman also highlighted that the infrastructure expenditure is not just Central Government budgetary expenditure on infrastructure and includes infrastructure spending by state governments  and private sector. It also includes government expenditure through extra-budgetary resources.

Therefore, ministries are to actively work on getting projects funded through innovative structuring and financing and provide all support to private sector for enhancing infrastructure spending, said a Finance Ministry statement.

The Finance Minister also added that the ministries also need to explore Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for viable projects. Sitharaman also asked the ministries and their CPSEs to  ensure clearance of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) dues by July 31, 2021.

She also asked the secretaries of ministries to push expenditure on large important projects to ensure that the achievement is commensurate with timelines.

Sitharaman also asked the ministries to take up regular reviews of sector-specific projects with the concerned state governments for effective implementation of the same.