34 % of plan fund allotted to six corporations go unutilized in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Due to financial crisis, only 66.66 % of the funds were spent on the six corporations in the state. The remaining amount goes unutilized. (Thiruvananthapuram 66.37%; Kochi 75.05%). The amount spent on plan allocation for the local bodies was limited to 90.34 percent. This has happened when the Finance Department claims that 97 percent of Rs 8048 crore allotted to local bodies has been given.

These details are stated in a report by PlanSpace, the Planning Board's live project cost website.

The opposition had criticized the local bodies for not fully spending the project fund. The government denied this, claiming that 97% had been spent and some local bodies had spent 100%. The total project expenditure in the state is 71.21 percent. This is lower than previous years.

State Plan Fund is Rs 22,322 crore. Rs 22,000 crore is normally spent in March, the last month of the financial year. The government has said that it has spent around Rs 21,000 crore and had survived the crisis through better financial management. But the data suggests otherwise.