FM reviews capital expenditure for Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways; Communication

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a review meeting on the budgeted capital expenditure for the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways and the Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communication, in New Delhi, on Tuesday.

The review meeting was attended by the Secretaries of the Department of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways and the Department of Telecom.

A series of review meetings have been scheduled with Ministries/Departments with significant capex outlays. The meetings will be chaired by the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman to review the progress of capital expenditure (capex) in the coming days.

Capital expenditure, or capex, is used to set up long-term physical or fixed assets. During the review of the Ministry of Communication, the details of capex plans in 2024-25 for Bharat Net Programme, 4G mobile projects – Indigenous Technology, Network for Spectrum, and 4G saturation and other mobile projects were discussed today.

The estimated capex budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Communication in 2024-25 stands at Rs 28,835 crore. The Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), apprised the Union Finance Minister about the capex plan and targets for the BharatNet project, which aims at providing affordable broadband services to citizens in rural and remote areas.

He also apprised about the capital expenditure plans for the 4G saturation project and other mobile tower projects, which seek to improve connectivity in uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas.

The Secretary, DoT, apprised the Union Finance Minister that with the help of the completely indigenous 4G technology, 21,000 4G mobile towers are on the air with 30 lakh consumers. The DoT secretary also apprised FM Sitharaman about the 4G Saturation drive that aims to cover aspirational districts and aspirational blocks. Secretary DoT assured the Union Finance Minister that all targets are on track and will be met in time.

During the review of the financial and physical progress of capex for Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Secretary MoRTH apprised the Union Finance Minister about the remarkable growth of National Highway Network in last 10 years with almost 2.4 times increase in average annual construction of national highways in 2014-2024 period in comparison to 2004-2014 with a focus on the growth of 2 Lane / 2 Lane with Paved Shoulder, 4 Lane and above, and High-Speed Corridors.

Secretary MoRTH, further apprised the Union Finance Minister about the Capex plans for the remaining 2024-25. Secretary MoRTH informed the Union Finance Minister that efforts are being made to attract private capital through various measures and efforts are underway to ensure that asset recycling targets are also met.

Budgetary capex allocation for the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways has increased by 90 per cent from Rs 1.42 lakh crore in 2019-20 to Rs 2.72 lakh crore in 2024-25. Emphasising the meaningful creation of assets for public utility, FM Sitharaman underlined the importance of setting quarterly targets and ensuring that they are achieved within a stipulated timeframe.

Nirmala Sitharaman exhorted the respective ministries to expedite implementation and make up for the Q1 and Q2 targets in Q3 2024-25 itself. (ANI)