Centre Releases \u20b961,000 Crore to States Under Capex Loan Scheme as Infrastructure Push Continues<\/p>\n
The central government has disbursed around \u20b961,000 crore to states till December 15 in the current financial year under its flagship Special Assistance for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme, reinforcing its continued focus on public infrastructure-led growth.<\/p>\n
The disbursement comes at a steady pace in FY26, with the Union Budget having allocated \u20b91.5 lakh crore for the scheme\u2014unchanged from the previous year. In FY25, the Centre had released \u20b91.49 lakh crore to states under SASCI, almost fully utilising the budgeted allocation.<\/p>\n
Government officials said the progress so far this year is broadly in line with last year\u2019s trajectory. \u201cThe amount released till mid-December is not starkly different from the same period in the previous financial year,\u201d an official said, adding that the Centre remains confident of meeting the full-year target once again. source: Moneycontrol<\/p>\n
Between April 1 and December 3 in FY25, the Centre had released \u20b950,571 crore under the scheme, as per information shared earlier with Parliament. The higher disbursement figure this year reflects both continued demand from states and the Centre\u2019s intent to sustain capital expenditure even amid a challenging revenue environment.<\/p>\n
Officials emphasised that SASCI has evolved into a structural pillar of Centre-state fiscal coordination rather than remaining a temporary stimulus measure. \u201cThis year too, the budgeted target is likely to be met,\u201d one official said.<\/p>\n
The scheme assumes added significance at a time when both the Centre and states are navigating slower tax revenue growth and tighter fiscal conditions.<\/p>\n
Also Read : Finance Ministry Faces Internal Divide On Merging State-Owned General Insurers<\/a><\/p>\n Launched in 2020\u201321 during the pandemic, the Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme provides 50-year, interest-free loans to state governments to support capital expenditure. The objective is to stimulate economic growth, generate employment and strengthen infrastructure creation across sectors.<\/p>\n The loans are extended through two components:<\/p>\n Untied funds, which states can deploy for priority infrastructure projects<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Tied funds, which are released subject to the implementation of specified reforms<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Through the tied component, the Centre has nudged states to undertake structural reforms such as:<\/p>\n Modernising building byelaws<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Digitising land records<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Scrapping old government vehicles<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Improving public financial management systems<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n In FY25 alone:<\/p>\n 22 states reformed building byelaws for industrial and commercial plots<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 18 states reduced land wastage and parking norms for factories<\/p>\n<\/li>\n 12 states doubled permissible built-up area for flatted factories<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n These reforms are aimed at improving ease of doing business and unlocking private investment alongside public capex.<\/p>\n Internal data accessed shows that Uttar Pradesh has received the highest allocation under SASCI so far in FY26.<\/p>\n Uttar Pradesh: \u20b98,465 crore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Assam: \u20b95,597 crore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Maharashtra: \u20b94,584 crore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Rajasthan: \u20b94,113 crore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Bihar: \u20b93,985 crore<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Officials said allocations broadly reflect project readiness, reform compliance and the pace of utilisation by states.<\/p>\n \u201cThis scheme has transformed from a counter-cyclical COVID response into a structural capex-financing pillar,\u201d said Sandeep Vempati, economist with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite the steady flow of central assistance, state-level capital expenditure remains somewhat subdued. Data analysed from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) shows that till November in FY26, 22 states had incurred capital expenditure amounting to around 38 percent of their budget estimates.<\/p>\n This is marginally lower than the 39 percent recorded in the same period last year. In contrast, the Centre\u2019s own capital expenditure between April and October stands at about 55 percent of its budget estimates, highlighting a sharper execution pace at the central level.<\/p>\n Economists attribute the slower momentum at the state level to pressure on revenues.<\/p>\n According to analysts, weaker GST collections, rate rationalisation and lower transfers from the Centre have constrained states\u2019 ability to scale up capex aggressively.<\/p>\n \u201cStates are facing a sharper slowdown in revenue collection, which is likely to result in their full-year capex coming in slightly below budget estimates,\u201d said Gaura Sen Gupta, Chief Economist at IDFC First Bank.<\/p>\n She added that while the Centre is also grappling with slower tax growth, it has additional buffers. Even as revenue pressures persist, policymakers see the capex loan scheme as a crucial lever to sustain economic momentum. With private investment still uneven and global conditions uncertain, public infrastructure spending\u2014supported by interest-free long-term loans\u2014continues to anchor growth.<\/p>\n As the financial year enters its final quarter, officials expect a faster pace of releases and utilisation, reinforcing the Centre\u2019s strategy of using capex as a stabilising force for both growth and employment.<\/p>\n Centre Releases \u20b961,000 Crore to States Under Capex Loan Scheme as Infrastructure Push Continues The central government has disbursed around \u20b961,000 crore to states till December 15 in the current financial year under its flagship Special Assistance for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme, reinforcing its continued focus on public infrastructure-led growth. The disbursement comes at a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[615],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1331],"class_list":{"0":"post-19252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stock-market-news"}," _eael_post_view_count":0,"authors":[{"term_id":1331,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sourabh","display_name":"Sourabh Sharma","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/trending.niftytrader.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sourabh-Sharma.png","url2x":"https:\/\/trending.niftytrader.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sourabh-Sharma.png"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19254,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19252\/revisions\/19254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19252"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.niftytrader.in\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=19252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Is the SASCI Capex Loan Scheme?<\/h2>\n
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Uttar Pradesh Tops State-Wise Disbursements<\/h2>\n
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\u201cIt is employment-accretive and growth-inducing for states, and can lead to better fiscal conditions. States have repeatedly sought continuity and a higher outlay under this scheme.\u201d<\/p>\nState Capex Trails Budget Estimates<\/h2>\n
Revenue Constraints Weigh on State Spending<\/h2>\n
\u201cThe Centre\u2019s revenues will get support from RBI dividends, PSU dividends, non-tax receipts and excise duty collections, which should help it meet both its capex and fiscal deficit targets,\u201d Gupta said.<\/p>\nCapex Push Remains a Key Growth Lever<\/h2>\n
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