UT spends less than half of capital budget in first 6 months

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh administration has failed to spend even 50% of the annual budget allocated under the capital head by the Centre in the first six months of the 2026-27 financial year. The administration has spent just around 45.1% in the capital segment, which is meant for infrastructure, buildings and related developmental works.However, the authority has spent around 56.6% of the budget in the revenue head, which is meant for committed liabilities like salaries, wages, allowances, travel, medical reimbursement, etc.According to UT records, Rs 273.79 crore of the Rs 606 crore allocated in the capital head has been spent so far this financial year. In the revenue category, Rs 3,364 crore of the Rs 5,939.5 crore allocated has been spent.Over the six-month period of the current fiscal, the administration has spent Rs 3,638.06 crore collectively under the capital and revenue heads from the total allocated amount of Rs 6,545 crore. This marks around 55.5% of the total allocation.However, lower expenditure under the capital segment has raised a serious question over the UT’s developmental plan in the current financial year. Data revealed that 79.1% expenditure was incurred on infrastructural assets but just 47.9% of the work was done under the building and structures segment.In other capital expenditure, only 9.3% expenditure was incurred. In the revenue segment, over 50% expenditure was registered in the salaries and allowances segments, while wages and medical allowance registered over 40% expenditure.“Largely, works under the capital segment, like infrastructural development, project construction, buildings etc are under the UT engineering department, which remains under constant monitoring. The UT finance department also reviews planned and proposed works from time to time,” sources said.Sources in the Chandigarh administration revealed that the expenditure report of six months, April to Sept, is shared with the MHA. The budgetary estimate (BE) grant for the next financial year of 2027-2028 and financial aid under the revised estimate (RE) for the current financial year will largely depend on the expenditure UT incurs by justifying the works.Box 1: Budget allocation and expenditureChandigarh budget: April–September 2026- Total allocation: Rs 6,545.52 crore- Total spent: Rs 3,638.06 crore- Expenditure: 55.58%Capital head- Allocation: Rs 606 crore- Spent: Rs 273.79 crore- Expenditure: 45.18%Revenue head- Allocation: Rs 5,939.52 crore- Spent: Rs 3,364.27 crore- Expenditure: 56.64%BOX 2: Revenue expenditure (April–Sept 2026)Salaries- Allocation: Rs 1,668.4 crore- Spent: Rs 977.4 crore- Expenditure: 58.5%Wages- Allocation: Rs 688.2 crore- Spent: Rs 323.7 crore- Expenditure: 47.03%Medical treatment- Allocation: Rs 43.5 crore- Spent: Rs 19.06 crore- Expenditure: 43.7%Allowances- Allocation: Rs 1,385.4 crore- Spent: Rs 780.1 crore- Expenditure: 56.3%Domestic travel- Allocation: Rs 6.3 crore- Spent: Rs 2.7 crore- Expenditure: 43.02%Total revenue expenditure- Allocation: Rs 5,939.5 crore- Spent: Rs 3,364.2 crore- Expenditure: 56.6%BOX 3: Capital expenditure (April–Sept 2026)Buildings and structures- Allocation: Rs 390.8 crore- Spent: Rs 187.4 crore- Expenditure: 47.9%Infrastructure assets- Allocation: Rs 57.1 crore- Spent: Rs 45.2 crore- Expenditure: 79.1%Motor vehicles- Allocation: Rs 48.9 crore- Spent: Rs 8.8 crore- Expenditure: 18%Machinery and equipment- Allocation: Rs 31.7 crore- Spent: Rs 17.3 crore- Expenditure: 54.6%ICT equipment- Allocation: Rs 38.1 crore- Spent: Rs 9.9 crore- Expenditure: 26.09%Total capital expenditure- Allocation: Rs 606 crore- Spent: Rs 273.7 crore- Expenditure: 45.1%You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chandigarh | Silver Rate in Chandigarh | Bank Holidays in Chandigarh | Public Holidays in Chandigarh | Chandigarh AQI | Weather in Chandigarh | Petrol Price in Chandigarh | Diesel Price in Chandigarh | CNG Price in Chandigarh | LPG Price in ChandigarhStay updated with the latest Chandigarh news. Download the TOI App.