“Most states lack infrastructure-development capacity. The ability to award and execute public-private-partnerships is not there.

Consequently, projects do not take off and funds remain unutilised,” said Jayesh Desai, National Director, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Government Services, Ernst and Young.

“Union Territories like Delhi and Chandigarh have not utilised the grant because they have a surplus budget and can manage projects from their own resources,” Desai added. And in some places like Maharashtra, the focus is on big-ticket projects like the Mumbai trans-harbour link, even though most of its cities continue to suffer from poor road infrastructure.

Several states, however, questioned the basis of the central ministry data.

A senior officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in charge of roads told The Indian Express: “Delhi has utilised a part of the funds allocated to us. It may not be reflected in the central data as the utilisation certificate is submitted to the Delhi Government.”

A Bihar official said: “We have sent utilisation certificates worth Rs 142 crore to Delhi, against which we have received Rs 121 crore. The centre is yet to give us the other Rs 21 crore. But this does not seem to have been reflected in their data.”

A top Nagaland official blamed the weather for the situation. “It rains for almost 6 months in the year here starting May. It is only by December that work is likely to pick up,” the official said. Nagaland is also on the zero-spend list.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways claims it compiles its data every month after confirming with the states.