On Wednesday, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget in Lok Sabha for the fiscal year 2023-24. She proposed that Rs. 10 lakh crore would assign for capital expenditure outlay boosting infrastructure by 33 per cent.
The Finance Minister stated, “Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore. It will be 3.3% of GDP. Will be almost three times the outlay made in 2019,”
The increase in capital expenditure shows that investment in the infrastructure is the government’s main focus for the economy’s growth, as it will account for 3.3 per cent of GDP for the coming year.
The government allocated 2.4 lakh crore to the railway sector for investment in infrastructure for the year 2023-24, the highest-ever allocation in the past decade. The finance minister also said that PM Awas Yojana, which is building towards affordable housing, is hiked by 66 per cent by Rs 79,000 crore.
In addition, Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government has decided to scrap the old vehicles by supporting the central and state governments departments to replace the polluting vehicles and encourage coastal shipping through Viability Gap Funding.
Sitharaman stated, “one hundred crucial transport infrastructure projects for last and first-mile connectivity to ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grain sectors are recognised”.
“They will be prioritised with an investment of Rs 75,000 billion. This includes Rs 15 billion from private sources,” she explained.
Further, the Finance Minister said, “an Expert committee will soon be set up to classify the infrastructure and financing framework suitable for Amrit Kaal.” Urban planning will be promoted to take up by the cities and states. Also, the year 50-year interest-free loans limit will increase to Rs 1.3 lakh crore for the state government’s infrastructure investment in this budget.
