Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday asked 32 large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to frontload their capital expenditure and clear all dues of all goods and service providers by 15 October.
CPSEs have also been asked to build a portal by 15 October where delay in payments can be monitored on a regular basis, Sitharaman said after reviewing the capex plan of CPSEs.
Sitharaman had held a similar review meeting of 21 infrastructure related government departments on Friday.
These developments come in the backdrop of the government trying to revive the Indian economy which grew at an over six-year low of 5% during April-June.
Till 19 August, the 32 CPSEs had spent ₹48,177 crore of a total ₹1.53 trillion capex budget for the current fiscal. They have promised to fast-track their spending by another ₹50,159 crore by December.
CPSEs have also been asked to submit a list of potential projects for the first half of next financial year where investment can be fastened.
Sitharaman raised concern over purchases by CPSEs up to ₹60,000 crore outside the GEM portal, seeking an explanation. Central ministries are also supposed buy up to another ₹30,000 crore outside GEM portal while the items are available on GEM.
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