Tamil Nadu’s capex spending declines

October 06, 2016 12:00 am | Updated November 01, 2016 11:17 pm IST - CHENNAI

‘Assembly polls could be behind the depressed numbers’

: Tamil Nadu’s spending on public projects like road and other infrastructure fell 33 per cent year on year in the first four months of fiscal 2017 compared with a combined growth of 46.5 per cent reported by 16 States for the period. A study by Religare Capital Markets based on data from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), showed that Tamil Nadu’s public capex was Rs. 2,520 crore during April-June 2017, down from Rs. 3,770 crore in the corresponding period of 2016.

Religare Capital said it compiled monthly data for 16 States from the CAG’s website. “This data is available for the first three months of FY17 in some instances and four months for others – we have ensured like-to-like year-on-year comparisons. These 16 States account for 69% of India’s GDP and 60% of the total capital outlay by States,” it said. “As per our report, Tamil Nadu may appear to be an outlier in our sample of 16 States. However, this is perhaps because of the Assembly elections in May, when public project implementation is usually deferred,” Jay Shankar, chief economist at Religare Capital Markets, told The Hindu .

He said in six out of the last nine years, the State’s growth in spending on public projects has been higher than the combined growth of all States.

Religare also studied the spending trend of the Central and State governments. It showed that the State governments increased spending on roads and other infrastructure projects by 29 per cent in April to July, while Centre’s spending dropped 33.7 per cent during the period.

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