Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman confirmed on Tuesday that there has been no reduction in capital expenditure for the financial year 2025-26, with an increase to ₹11.21 lakh crore. In the Rajya Sabha, she addressed concerns regarding special assistance schemes for states, affirming that capital expenditure funding has indeed increased this year.
Responding to Congress leader P. Chidambaram’s inquiry about cuts in the revised budget estimates for 2024-25, Sitharaman clarified that the loans provided to states under the interest-free 50-year special assistance scheme have also proportionally increased. She stated, “Therefore, it is not possible for us to reduce the capital expenditure.”
Chidambaram noted the reduction of capital expenditure from ₹11.11 lakh crore to ₹10,18,429 crore in the revised budget, and the decrease in special assistance from ₹3,90,778 crore to ₹2,99,891 crore.
Sitharaman further mentioned that since the launch of the assistance scheme in 2020-21, loans to states have risen, and the center actively monitors the utilization of funds by states, using digital tracking methods to ensure appropriate use of the allocated resources for capital purposes.
