Government's Major Schemes See Only 41% Budget Utilization in First Nine Months
A detailed analysis of the government's flagship initiatives reveals a significant underutilization of allocated funds during the current fiscal year. Data shows that for 53 major schemes, each with a budget estimate of Rs 500 crore or more for 2025-26, the government has spent just a little more than 40% of the budgeted amount in the first three quarters. Furthermore, projections indicate that total expenditure by the year-end is expected to fall short of 75% of the original budgetary allocation.
Schemes Funded Through Centre-State Collaboration
These 53 selected schemes are implemented by state governments and are jointly funded by both the Centre and states, following approved sharing patterns. The collective budget estimates for these programs totaled just over Rs 5 lakh crore. However, revised estimates have been adjusted downward to under Rs 3.8 lakh crore, representing only 74.4% of the initial budgetary allocation.
Disparities in Revised Estimates Across Schemes
The performance of these schemes varies dramatically. Only three initiatives saw their revised estimates match the original budgeted amounts: infrastructure maintenance schemes under health and family welfare, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, and the pre-matric scholarship for Scheduled Castes and others.
Conversely, three other schemes recorded revised estimates exceeding 100% of their budget estimates: the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, post-matric scholarship for Scheduled Tribes, and the National Mission on Natural Farming.
For the remaining 47 schemes, revised estimates are lower than budget estimates by varying degrees. The most drastic reduction is observed in the PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, where the revised estimate of Rs 150 crore is barely a sixth of the original budget estimate of Rs 850 crore.
Actual Fund Releases Lag Significantly
The funds actually released in the nine months ending December 31 totaled just over Rs 2 lakh crore. This figure represents only 41.2% of the total budget allocation and 55.4% of the revised estimates. Several schemes experienced particularly low fund releases.
Revised estimates are less than 40% of budget estimates for multiple key programs, including PMKSY-Command Area Development and Water Management, PM eBus Sewa, Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission/National Rural Drinking Water Mission, Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, and Other Items of State/UT Component-PMAY Urban.
In six of these schemes, the actual amount released is less than 10% of the budget estimate, highlighting severe implementation bottlenecks.
Major Schemes with Substantial Under-Spending
Among the larger schemes with budget estimates of Rs 2,000 crore or more, several show minimal actual spending:
- Jal Jeevan Mission/National Rural Drinking Water Mission: Budget estimate of Rs 67,000 crore, but actual spend in nine months was only Rs 31 crore.
- PM Schools for Rising India: Budget estimate of Rs 7,500 crore, with actual spend of just Rs 473 crore.
- Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojana: Budget estimate of Rs 2,140 crore, yet actual spend was a mere Rs 40 crore.
This pattern of under-spending raises questions about the efficiency of fund deployment and the operational challenges facing these critical government initiatives aimed at national development.
