PSUs hit 39% of FY21 CAPEX target, FM calls for more efforts

Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) have achieved 39.4 per cent of their capital expenditure (CAPEX) target with an expenditure of Rs 24,227 crore so far.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Friday called on the CPSEs to enhance their efforts to reach the target of 75 per cent of CAPEX by Q3.

"The overall achievement as on 23rd November, 2020 is Rs 24,227 crore (39.4 per cent) against the CAPEX target for 2020-21 i.e. Rs 61,483 crore," said an official statement.

While reviewing the performance of central PSUs, Sitharaman said that CAPEX by CPSEs is a critical driver of economic growth and need to be scaled up for the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The Finance Minister appreciated the efforts of the ministries and CPSEs for making visible efforts to meet out the CAPEX targets, said a Finance Ministry statement.

"However, Sitharaman said that more efforts are still required to achieve the target of 75 per cent CAPEX by Q3 and more than 100 per cent by Q4 of the FY 21," it added.

She asked the CPSEs to perform better to achieve targets and to ensure that the capital outlay provided to them for the year 2020-21 is spent properly and within time.

Sitharaman on Friday held video conference with Secretaries of the Ministries of Power, Mines and Department of Atomic Energy and the CMDs of 10 CPSEs belonging to these Ministries, to review the capital expenditure in this financial year.

This was fifth in the ongoing series of meetings that the minister is having with various stakeholders to accelerate economic growth against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic. - IANS