7 PSUs under MoCA, Steel Ministry & Railways spent Rs 3,557 cr on capex in Q1

New Delhi: Seven PSUs under the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Steel and Railways have spent Rs 3,557 crore (14 percent) on capex in Q1 of FY2020-21 as part of government's efforts to boost economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said on Thursday. The combined capex target for FY'2020-21 for these seven CPSEs is Rs 24,663 crore, as was reported by PSU Watch earlier. Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman held a video conference with the Secretaries of the Ministries of Civil Aviation, and Steel, and the Chairman of Railway Board (CRB), along with the CMDs of the seven PSUs belonging to these ministries, on Thursday to review the capex (Capital Expenditure) for the current financial year (FY'2020-21). This is the second meeting in the on-going series of review meetings that the Finance Minister has conducted so far with various stakeholders to accelerate the economic growth in the background of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In FY'2019-20, against the CAPEX target of Rs 30,420 crore for these seven CPSEs, these seven PSUs had spent Rs 25,974 crore, i.e. 85 percent. And in Q1 of FY2019-20, capex stood at Rs 3,878 crore (13 percent).

Sitharaman urges PSUs to spend and help economy recover from COVID-19

While stressing on the significant role played by PSUs in giving a push to the growth of the Indian economy, the Finance Minister encouraged the PSUs to perform better to achieve their targets and to ensure that the capital outlay provided to them for the financial year FY'2020-21 is spent properly and within time. She said that better performance of PSUs 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 PSUs in order to ensure capital expenditure of 50 percent of capital outlay by the end of the second quarter of the current financial year and make an appropriate plan for it. Sitharaman stated that unresolved issues should be flagged immediately to the Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Public Enterprises and Department of Investment and Public Asset Management 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 the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finance Minister stated that extraordinary situation requires extraordinary efforts and with collective efforts, we will not only perform better but will also help the Indian economy to achieve better results.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Telegram. Join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram and stay updated)