Punjab Govt to speed up capital expenditure

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, December 23

The Punjab Government has decided to speed up capital expenditure spending during the remaining part of this year and use the grants-in- aid received from the Centre for building capital assets.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by CM Bhagwant Mann today. Heads of various administrative departments have been asked to spend all money that they have received under various centrally sponsored schemes at the earliest.

To ensure faster and better utilisation of these funds, the Finance Department has told departments not to come to them to seek prior approval for the fund utilisation.

The DCs of various districts, who virtually joined the meeting, have also been told to identify capital assets that can be created with unutilised funds that have been received as grants from the Centre.

It is learnt that out of

Rs 8,000 crore received by the state from the Centre so far, nearly Rs 4,500 crore has been utilised. The Chief Minister is learnt to have asked officials to spend unutilised Rs 3,500 crore funds so that the state can again approach the Centre for the release of more capital.

Sources say that the CM reportedly pointed out that the maximum unutilised funds were in the Education and Local Bodies Departments.

Punjab’s capital expenditure so far is just 20.06 per cent of the Budget estimates for the year. Between April and October this year, the state government spent Rs 2,263.15 crore towards capital expenditure. The targeted capital expenditure this year is Rs 10,981 crore. Traditionally in Punjab, the government spends maximum amount on account of capital expenditure during the final quarter of a financial year.

It may be mentioned that in the current fiscal, the state has to get Rs 14,756.86 crore as its share from central taxes and Rs 28,731.04 crore as grants-in-aid from the Centre.

In the first seven months of this fiscal, the state received Rs 7,850.34 crore as share in central taxes and Rs 13,878.29 crore as grants-in- aid.