AHMEDABAD: A data placed by the government before the Gujarat Legislative Assembly reveals that Rs 1,321 crore is lying unspent over two financial years.
The disclosure came through a written reply by the Tribal Development Minister, who stated that as on January 20, 2026, the state had allocated Rs 7,106 crore for tribal development over the last two financial years yet Rs 1,321 crore of this pool remained unspent.
For FY 2024-25, the government made a budgetary provision of Rs 4,373.96 crore. Out of this, Rs 3,407.22 crore was formally allocated, indicating an early filtering of projects at the allocation stage itself. Of the allocated funds, Rs 3,373.38 crore was actually spent, leaving Rs 33.84 crore unused a relatively small but telling underutilisation that points to last-mile execution delays.
The spending gap widens dramatically in FY 2025-26. Against a larger budget provision of Rs 5,120.03 crore, only Rs 3,699.03 crore had been allocated till January 31, 2026. More strikingly, only Rs 2,410.64 crore was actually utilised, leaving a massive Rs 1,288.39 crore idle nearly one-third of the allocated funds and the bulk of the two-year unspent pool. This sharp dip suggests that while budgetary ambition has expanded, administrative capacity and execution pipelines have not scaled proportionately, resulting in funds remaining locked within the system instead of reaching tribal beneficiaries on the ground.
The government attributed the underutilisation to procedural and operational delays, stating that expenditure flows are staggered due to monthly and quarterly spending patterns.
It further cited time taken in selecting works during planning, securing approvals, implementing projects, and processing beneficiary applications including verification and final disbursement under various assistance schemes.
However, the data indicates that these routine administrative processes have cumulatively translated into a significant fiscal slowdown, effectively delaying welfare delivery in tribal regions despite budgetary readiness.
When viewed cumulatively, the figures underline a deeper governance challenge: the state is provisioning higher funds each year, yet the absorption capacity at the department and field level appears constrained.
The jump from Rs 33.84 crore unspent in 2024-25 to Rs 1,288.39 crore in 2025-26 shows not just a timing issue but a widening implementation gap. The trend suggests that unless project approvals, beneficiary verification and execution cycles are synchronised with budget releases, large welfare allocations risk remaining trapped in administrative loops, diluting the real impact of tribal development policies.
In effect, the Assembly data reveals a paradox rising fiscal commitment to tribal welfare on paper, but delayed translation into ground-level outcomes placing the spotlight on planning efficiency, departmental coordination and last-mile delivery mechanisms in Gujarat’s tribal development framework.