Central PSUs target capital expenditure of Rs 50,000 crore in December quarter: FM Sitharaman

At a meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, public sector undertakings (PSUs) has said that they have plans of making capital expenditure of Rs 50,000 crores during October-December period.

The FM, who reviewed capital spending programmes with heads of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), said that all the PSUs that attended the meeting said that their capital expenditure targets for 2019-20 would be met.

Till August 2019, capex of 34 PSUs were Rs 48,077 crore and the capex committed for the last quarter of the current year is Rs 54,700 core, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said.

Expenditure Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu said capex of all the 242-odd PSUs will be over Rs 400 lakh crore.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has a capex plan of Rs 32,921 crore for FY 2019-20, while its capex till August 2019 was Rs 8,777 crore which was 26.66 per cent of the total planned expenditure. Indian Oil Corporation has a capex plan of Rs 25,083 crore of which 8,173 crore (32%) has been spent. NTPC has made CAPEX of Rs 8490 crore (42%) out of a plan of Rs 20,000 crore.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday held a meeting with the top brass of 32 Maharatna and Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to review their capital expenditure till date and plans for the next two quarters of this financial year.

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The FM stressed that capex needs to be given a vigorous push in the next two quarters and asked PSUs to clear overdue payments to vendors and contractors by October 15.

"All pending overdues will be met by October 15 and by October 15 they will have a portal through which all dealers and contractors shall start monitoring their payment," Sitharaman said at a press briefing.

She also said that a portal will be set up by the government for suppliers and contractors to track their due payments.

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It is noteworthy that the combined capital expenditure by PSUs and Departmental Undertakings (DUs) such as the NHAI and the Indian Railways contribute in substantial measure to fixed assets creation in the economy.

Public procurement as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in the country is estimated between 20 per cent and 22 per cent. For a size of Indian economy at $2.7 trillion, this amounts to public procurement to the tune of $500 billion annually. CPSEs are a major contributor to public procurement of works, goods and services.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar