Govt spends 45.7% of capex estimate in H1

Infra In Focus

- Railways topped the capex list

- It exhausted 82% (Rs115,520.36 cr)

- Ministry of Road Transport used 66% (Rs130474.06 cr)

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi-led government's focus on infrastructure development is quite well known. This led to higher capital expenditure in the first half of this fiscal, while revenue expenditure declined in percentage terms.

According to the figures released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, revenue expenditure in the first half of this fiscal came down to 46.3 per cent of the annual budgetary estimate for 2022-23. The corresponding figure for 2021-22 was 47.7 per cent.

Revenue expenditure in September was Rs343,010 crore and Rs1,480,708 crore for the first six months of 2022-23. The corresponding figures for the last fiscal were Rs291,853 crore and Rs1,396,666 crore.

Revenue expenditure is the money the government spends on its own functioning, interest payments on debt, subsidies, etc. Essentially, it is non-productive expenditure; the lower it is, the better.

Capital expenditure, on the other hand, is for building assets; it adds capacities to the economy like roads and ports.

The government spent Rs342,889 crore in the first half of 2022-23, while the budgetary estimate for the entire fiscal is Rs749,652 crore. In other words, 45.7 per cent of the total capex has been used in 2022-23; in the same period last fiscal it was 41.4 per cent.

The Railways Ministry topped the list in terms of capex, exhausting 82 per cent, or Rs115,520.36 crore, in the first half of the annual budgetary estimate of Rs140,367.13 crore. In the corresponding period last fiscal, it had spent 42 per cent of the annual target.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways used 66 per cent, or Rs130474.06 crore, in the first six months of the annual budgetary estimate of Rs199,107.71 crore. In the corresponding period last fiscal, it had spent 68 per cent of the annual target.