PremiumFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked ministries and their Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to front-load capital expenditure (Capex) and ensure clearance of MSME’s dues at the earliest.
She asked the Ministries and their CPSEs to clear Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) dues by 31st July 2021.
In the 6th review meeting on the infrastructure roadmap, FM Sitharaman emphasised that enhanced Capex will play a critical role in revitalizing the economy post- Covid pandemic.
During the meeting, the FM also discussed the status of the implementation of budget announcements and measures to expedite infrastructure investment.
Finance Minister Sitharaman said that the Budget for Financial Year 2021-22 provided a capital outlay of Rs. 5.54 lakh crore, a sharp increase of 34.5% over the Budget Estimate of 2020-21. However, the efforts from the budgetary side to increase the capital expenditure have to be complemented by the Public Sector Enterprises, She added.
Sitharaman asked the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to expedite the capital expenditure and make efforts for front-loading it. To the Petroleum ministry, she asked, to expedite monetization of assets during FY 2021-22.
Further, the FM also highlighted that the infrastructure expenditure is not just Central Government budgetary expenditure on infrastructure and includes infrastructure spending by State Governments and the 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 the private sector for enhancing infrastructure spending," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
The Finance Minister also added that the Ministries also need to explore Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for viable projects.
The meeting was attended by Finance Secretary, Secretary (Economic Affairs), Secretary (Public Enterprises), Secretary (Steel), Secretary (Housing & Urban Affairs), Secretary (Petroleum & Natural Gas), and Secretary (Space) as well as CMDs/CEOs of CPSEs of these Ministries/Departments.
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