Ministers told explore PPP mode for viable projects
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has told her fellow ministers to expedite capital expenditure, make efforts to front load capex, facilitate private investments, monetise assets in FY2021-22 and focus on domestic procurement wherever possible.
Sitharaman made the call during the 6th review meeting for CAPEX & infrastructure roadmap on 29 June 2021.
The Finance Minister called on Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs to expedite the capital expenditure and make efforts for front loading it.
The Minister of Steel was asked to front-load capex and facilitate private investment by providing support and removing bottlenecks in the processes.
The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas was asked to expedite monetization of assets during FY 2021-22.
Likewise, the Department of Space was told to focus on domestic procurement wherever possible.
Sitharaman also highlighted that the infrastructure expenditure is not just Central Government budgetary expenditure on infrastructure and includes infrastructure spending by State Governments and 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 private sector for enhancing infrastructure spending, said the Finance Minister, urging the Ministries to explore Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for viable projects.
Sitharaman also asked the Ministries and their CPSEs to ensure clearance of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) dues by 31 July 2021.
While concluding the review meeting, the Finance Minister asked the Secretaries of Ministries to push expenditure on large important projects to ensure that the achievement is commensurate with timelines.
Sitharaman wants the Ministries to take up regular reviews of sector-specific projects with the concerned State Governments for effective implementation of the same.
The Minister emphasised that enhanced CAPEX will play a critical role in revitalising the economy post-pandemic.
Sitharaman reminded the Ministers 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 stressed. #banking #investment #economy #projects /fiinews.com
