Despite government directive to invest surplus funds or pay them back as special dividend,

RELATED ARTICLES Inter-ministerial panel to take call on coal mines to PSUs next week

all major coal, mining and steel state-owned firms, including SAIL and Coal India, are set to miss capex targets this fiscal.

According to Budget 2013-14 documents, steel major SAIL is estimated to miss the capex target by over 17 per cent this fiscal. The Maharatna-status company had originally targeted to invest Rs 14,500 crore in 2012-13.

Same is true for Coal India, another Maharatna firm, which is likely to miss the capex target by about 4 per cent. Against an original capex of Rs 4,275 crore, the coal miner is estimated to spend Rs 4,100 crore in the current fiscal on modernisation and expansion of its operations.

In October, the government had given a stern message to the central public sector units (PSUs) to either invest or pay special dividend so as to help revive the sagging economic growth through investments.

The directive was given in a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on October 23, with the chiefs of 25 cash-rich central PSUs as they were estimated to have surplus fund of Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Barring a few, all the major coal, mining and steel companies are cash rich. They include NMDC, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) and National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), which are estimated to miss their capex targets by up to 57 per cent in the current fiscal.

While RINL is estimated to miss capex targets by 30 per cent at Rs 1365.86 crore (vs original estimates of Rs 1,942 crore), NMDC is likely to miss its expenditure targets by nearly 40 per cent at Rs 2,814 crore in 2013-14.

Aluminium producer Nalco's capex estimates have been cut down by about 57 per cent during the current fiscal at Rs 1,010 crore (against original estimates of Rs 2,343 crore).

Manganese ore producer MOIL Ltd and Hindustan Copper are estimated to miss their capex targets by 50 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

According to Budget documents, Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Singareni Colleries are the only two exceptions in the list.

While Neyveli is expected to invest 106 per cent of the capex target at Rs 1,782 crore, Singareni Colleries will achieve 100 per cent of the target at Rs 3,220.33 crore in the current fiscal.