The capital expenditure utilisation by the central ministries has increased by 63% to ₹4,47,113 crore in the April-November FY2022-23 period, compared with ₹2,73,630 crore spent on capital assets in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The government has planned ₹7.5 lakh crore of capital spending in the current fiscal.
The central government has been able to achieve the mega spending on the back of both highways and railways ministry, which have used over 80% of their allocation for the fiscal by November itself.
The total Capex utilisation in April-November as a percentage of the budget estimate of ₹7.5 lakh crore stands at 59.6%, compared with 49.4% in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
The highways and railways ministries have led the charge on the capital spending front, while telecom exhibited a major comeback compared with the showdown of the previous year.
Till November, the highways ministry has spent ₹1,49,364 crore, or 80% of the budget outlay of ₹1,87,744 crore. Similarly, the railways ministry has spent 84% – ₹1,15,000 crore – of the budget outlay worth ₹1,37,100 crore.
The telecom ministry, too, has spent ₹25,334 crore, or 47% of the budgeted ₹54,150 crore. Notably, the telecom ministry lagged by about 61% in FY22 as its spending stood at only ₹3,327 crore, compared with the allocation of ₹5,470 crore.
Housing and defence, meanwhile, have lagged this year too. Of the total allocation of ₹1,52,369 crore, the actuals during the first eight months of the fiscal stand at ₹73,340 crore, or 48% of the budget allocation. The housing and urban development ministry, too, has achieved only 42% of the total allocation of ₹27,341 crore, at ₹11,405 crore.
