India: Budget highlights spending on infrastructure
February 1, 2024
India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the government’s 10th budget to parliament on Thursday.
“The economy has undergone a profound transformation,” she said.
This is the interim budget for 2024-25, the current administration’s last before India heads to general elections scheduled for May this year. This budget is being seen as an economic manifesto for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans for his financial policies.
The final budget will be presented by the new government that comes to power.
“The next five years will be years of unprecedented development and golden moments to realize the dream of a developed India by 2047,” Sitharaman said.
The government will spend a record amount of 11.11 billion rupees ($133.87 billion or €124 billion) on creating infrastructure in the next financial year to ensure that India remains one of the with faster growth.
Sitharaman said the allocation for capital expenditure for the next financial year is 11.1% higher than the current year, even as overall expenditure increases at a slower rate of 6%.
What was announced in India’s budget?
Sitharaman said her government is focused on improving the conditions of the poor, women, youth and farmers. Inflation and lack of wage growth have hurt lower-income workers, especially in rural areas.
She referred to a report by NITI Aayog, the government’s public policy think tank, which states that 248 million people have been lifted out of multidimensional poverty in the last 10 years.
Sitharaman said the government will build 20 million affordable homes in the next five years and launch a housing scheme for the middle class.
Sitharaman announced a new program called “Green Growth”, through which the government plans to encourage green production and transform the sector from “consumptive” to “regenerative”.
She added that India has set a target of reducing its fiscal deficit to 5.1% in fiscal 2024/25, after reducing the current year’s deficit to 5.8% of gross domestic product (GDP).
No changes to fiscal policy were announced.
Source: DW
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