CPSEs, Railways, NHAI, DMRC maintain capex momentum, spending nears ₹6.7 Lakh crore

New Delhi: Capital expenditure by large central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) and four key government entities almost held steady this fiscal year, supplementing the broader public capex to drive economic growth, a senior finance ministry official said.

Spending by the CPSEs and four large government agencies-Railway Board, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, and Damodar Valley Corporation-touched ₹6.67 lakh crore till January this fiscal, compared to ₹6.79 lakh crore in the same period last fiscal.

Each of these entities has an annual capex target of at least ₹100 crore. Their capex between April and January touched 85% of the full-year target, compared with 86% a year before.

In January alone, such spending dropped nearly 18% from a year before to ₹89,668 crore, mainly due to a frontloading of expenditure earlier in the fiscal, showed data compiled by the Department of Public Enterprises. Public capex, including that of CPSEs, remains critical to India’s economic growth in FY26, as uncertainties caused by US tariffs and other geopolitical risks weighed on domestic private investments for most of the year, experts said.