India Budget 2023: Govt increases capital expenditure by 33% for 2023-24 

The Union government of India on Wednesday announced that it will increase capital expenditure by 33 per cent byrenewing its focus on the development of railways, roads, ports, and digital infrastructure.Presenting the last full Union Budget of the Modi government ahead of the 2024 general elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that they have increased the infra outlay to Rs 10 lakh crore for 2023-24, which will be at 3.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

She added that an expert committee will be established to make infrastructure classification and financing framework suitable for 'Amrit Kaal' (Golden Era).

“The newly established infrastructure finance secretariat will assist in attracting more private investment,” the finance minister said.

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On October 13 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gati Shakti — National Master Plan, in a bid to develop an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs.

All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing an investment of over Rs 500 crore, are routed through the NPG, constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.

The minister also informed that the PM Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group scheme would benefit 3.5 lakh tribals.

The government’s focus has been to push capital expenditure to spur the economic growth that was hit by the Covid pandemic. It expects that the increase in public spending would resultin private investment.

According to the Economic Survey presented by the government on Tuesday, asustained increase in the private capex is also imminent with the strengthening of the balance sheets of the corporates and the consequent increase in credit financing it has been able to generate.

“Going by the capex multiplier estimated for the country, the economic output of the country is set to increase by at least four times the amount of the capex,” the Survey said.

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