New Delhi, April 01 (H.S.): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on Tuesday that there has been no cut in capital expenditure for the financial year 2025-26; rather, it has been increased to ₹11.21 lakh crore. This year, there has been a proportional increase in the loans given to states for capital expenditure.

The Finance Minister made these remarks while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha. During the question hour, while answering members' questions regarding special assistance schemes for capital expenditure for states, she said that the figure in this year's central budget has indeed increased to ₹11.21 lakh crore. Therefore, there has been absolutely no cut in capital expenditure. In response to a question raised by senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, she stated that there has been a proportional increase in the loans provided to states under the interest-free 50-year special assistance scheme for capital expenditure. She said, Therefore, it is not possible for us to reduce the capital expenditure.

In fact, Chidambaram sought to know the reason for the reduction of capital expenditure in the revised budget estimates for the financial year 2024-25 from ₹11.11 lakh crore to ₹10,18,429 crore. Similarly, he pointed out that special assistance to states has been reduced from ₹3,90,778 crore to ₹2,99,891 crore in the revised budget estimates for the financial year 2024-25.

The Finance Minister informed the house that since the introduction of the interest-free 50-year special assistance scheme for capital expenditure to states in the financial year 2020-21, there has been an increase in loans being issued to states. While responding to a supplementary question, Sitharaman said that the centre monitors whether states are using funds for capital expenditure or any other purposes. She mentioned that as time passes, when funds are deposited into specific nodal accounts for expenditure through various digital methods, the center is able to track where the money has been spent.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar