THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With just eight days to go before the presentation of the new budget, Rs 13,652.82 crore earmarked for development projects in the last budget is yet to be utilised. This is 37.22 per cent of the total amount. There are only three weeks for this financial years' completion.The new budget is on March 11.

Due to Covid and lockdown, as of March 1, project expenditure for the fiscal year 2020-21 was 97.97%. In 21-22 it fell to 62.78 per cent. This is the worst performance in the last five years.

An amount of 27610 crore has been set apart for various projects in the state under the last budget. Out of this 10261.68 crore is yet to be spent. Of the Rs 7280 crore allotted, not even half could be spent by March. So far, only 47.4 per cent has been spent. The government explained that the problem was not about expense and that the project cost was low because the bill had not been changed.

The project cost is the amount spent on development only, excluding day-to-day activities. Out of which 13652.82 crore is left unspent. KIFB has approved development projects worth 8020.29 crore for the current financial year. During the last six years, development projects worth 70762 crore have been approved. According to the KIFBI report, out of this `17053.40 crore was transferred for various projects.

Project Expenditure as on March 1, as in previous years 2016-17 -84.15% 2017-18 -90.25% 2018-19-80.98% 2019-20 -74.52% 2020-21-97.97% 2021-22 -62.78%