Union Budget: focus on capital expenditure; Rs 2.4 lakh cr to Railways
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New Delhi: The government's primary area of focus for the Union Budget for 2023–2024 introduced in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is once again capital expenditures.
The FM also suggested that to account for 3.3% of the GDP, the capital investment outlay has increased by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore. There will be one more year of the state government's 50-year, interest-free loan.
Under the "Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment," sums of Rs. 11,830 crores and Rs. 14,186 crores were given to the states in FY21 and FY22 as 50-year interest-free loans. The budget was increased to Rs. 1.05 lakh crore during FY23 in order to support state expenditure ambitions even more.
According to the government, the railroads have received a capital budget of Rs 2.4 lakh crore, the biggest allocation since 2013–14.
The two industries with higher additional capital expenditures during the past several budgets have been roads and railroads, which have been at the centre of the government's push for capex.
50 new airports, water aerodromes, and sophisticated landing fields would also be revived for regional aviation connectivity, according to Sitharaman. This should give the regional connection plan—which was launched with the UDAAN plan—more momentum.
For the upcoming fiscal year beginning on April 1, She designated green growth as one of the government's top seven goals and proposed an allocation of Rs 35,000 crore to achieve the energy transition and net zero objectives.