Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs review meeting on budgeted capital expenditure

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman yesterday chaired a review meeting on the budgeted capital expenditure for the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways and the Ministry of Communications in New Delhi. During the review with regard to the Ministry of Communication, the details of capital expenditure,  Capex plans in financial year 2024-25 for the Bharat Net Programme, 4G mobile projects—Indigenous Technology, Network for Spectrum, and 4G saturation—and other mobile projects were discussed.

The estimated Capex Budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Communication in this financial year stands at 28 thousand 835 crore rupees. Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Dr. Neeraj Mittal 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.

During the review of Capex for the



Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways, Secretary, MoRTH Anurag Jain, apprised about the remarkable growth of the National Highway Network in the last 10 years, with almost 2.4 times the increase in average annual construction of highways in 2014-2024 in comparison to 2004-2014. The Budgetary Capex allocation for the Ministry has increased by 90 percent from 1.42 lakh crore rupees in financial year 2019-20 to 2.72 lakh crore rupees in financial year 2024-25.

Emphasising the meaningful creation of assets for public utility, Finance Minister Sitharaman underlined the importance of setting quarterly targets and ensuring that they are achieved within a stipulated time frame.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called India’s Paralympic champions to congratulate them after the day’s programs in Brunei. In a social media post, Mr. Modi said India is proud of its athletes.