Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman today held Video Conference with Secretaries of the Ministries of Civil Aviation, and Steel, and the Chairman Railway Board (CRB), along with the CMDs of 7 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) belonging to these Ministries, to review the Capital Expenditure in this Financial Year (FY). This was 2nd meeting in the ongoing series of review meetings that the Finance Minister is conducting with various stakeholders to accelerate the economic growth in the background of COVID-19 pandemic.

The combined CAPEX target for FY 2020-21 for these 7 CPSEs is ₹ 24,663 crore. In FY 2019-20, against the CAPEX target of ₹ 30,420 crore for these 7 CPSEs, the achievement was ₹ 25,974 crore i.e. 85 %. During Q1 of FY 2019-20, achievement was ₹ 3,878 crore (13%) and achievement of Q1 of FY 2020-21 is ₹ 3,557 crore (14%).

While mentioning the significant role of CPSEs in giving a push to the growth of the Indian economy, the Finance Minister encouraged the CPSEs to perform better to achieve their targets and to ensure that the capital outlay provided to them for the financial year 2020-21 is spent properly and within time. Smt. Sitharaman said that better performance of CPSEs can help the economy in a big way to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The Finance Minister asked the concerned Secretaries and the Chairman Railway Board to closely monitor the performance of CPSEs in order to ensure capital expenditure of 50% of capital outlay by the end of Q2 of FY 2020-21 and make appropriate plan for it. Smt. Sitharaman stated that unresolved issues should be flagged immediately to the DEA/DPE/DIPAM for immediate action on them. The Finance Minister said that she will hold such review meetings on the performance of CAPEX of CPSEs every month.

The CPSEs discussed constraints being faced by them especially due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Finance Minister stated that extraordinary situation requires extraordinary efforts and with collective efforts, we will not only perform better but also help the Indian economy to achieve better results.

Capital expenditure monitoring requires CPSEs to accelerate spending and flag unresolved issues for immediate central action. Directive requires seven CPSEs under Civil Aviation, Steel and the Railway Board to prioritise timely utilisation of allocated capital outlay, improve execution amid COVID 19 constraints, and coordinate intensified planning. Secretaries and the Railway Board will closely monitor performance, expect mid year spending progress, and immediately escalate unresolved impediments to central departments for action; the Finance Minister will conduct monthly CAPEX review meetings to ensure accelerated capital deployment and administrative oversight.