BHUBANESWAR: Amid heightened focus on infrastructure development, Odisha’s fiscal performance in the first nine months of the 2025-26 financial year was a mixed bag with steady growth in programme spending and social sector outlays, but concerns emerging over slow capital expenditure and infrastructure execution.
According to official data accessed by TNIE, the capital expenditure dropped by around 15 per cent during April-December as compared to the corresponding period the previous fiscal.
The state’s total expenditure stood at Rs 1,42,226 crore, accounting for 49 per cent of the budget estimate including supplementary provisions. As per the prevailing norms, both total and programme expenditure should have crossed 60 per cent of the budget by the end of December.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had presented a general budget of Rs 2.9 lakh crore and supplementary provisions of Rs 17,440 crore for 2025-26. During the April-December period of last fiscal, the government had spent Rs 1,29,550 crore, which was around 50 per cent of the annual budget.
Programme expenditure stood at Rs 84,461 crore, accounting for 46 per cent of the annual allocation as compared to 44 per cent (Rs 73,598 crore) during the same period the previous year. However, capital expenditure was about 15 per cent lower than the previous fiscal. Capex till December stood at Rs 22,835 crore, amounting to just 2.9 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), significantly below the budgeted target of 6.1 per cent of GSDP.
Finance department sources said although overall expenditure by the departments has remained broadly in line with last year, the pace fell short of the ideal benchmark. The capital spending has been slower than expected due to execution bottlenecks, seasonal factors and delays in project approvals.
Agriculture and allied sectors recorded an overall growth of 10 per cent over the previous year. While the Water Resources department registered a negative growth of 11 per cent, attributed to the onset of an early monsoon and delays in the tendering process, other departments posted robust gains. Expenditure by the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department rose by 20 per cent, while the Cooperation department witnessed a sharp 187 per cent increase.
Infrastructure sector expenditure showed an overall growth of three per cent, though performance varied sharply across departments. The Energy department emerged as a key driver with a 45 per cent growth. In contrast, the Works department saw a contraction of four per cent, while the Rural Development department registered six per cent decline.
Housing and Urban Development department recorded a moderate growth of six per cent. Overall social sector expenditure grew by 22 per cent over the previous year.