THE BIG PUBLIC INFRA BET

Infra sectors, including highways and railways, have received the largest share of the ₹7.5 lakh crore pie with an expectation that the capital expenditure will create the desired multiplier effect on the economy. Will the strategy work?

- ASHUTOSH KUMAR

ALMOST AN HOUR into her budget speech on February 1, when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a 35.4% hike in capital expenditure to ₹7.5 lakh crore for FY23, the treasury benches resonated with a loud thump granting its appreciation of the mega infrastructure plan to bring the economy back on high-growth path after the debilitating impact of the pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi couldn't stop himself thumping the bench twice as the finance minister announced the capital expenditure target for the next financial year.

Ahead of the tightening of global as well as the domestic liquidity inflow in the current year, the government has taken upon itself yet again to stoke growth in the economy. An allocation of ₹7,50,256 crore has been made towards capital expenditure in Budget 2022-23, including ₹1 lakh crore in infra funding to states. Sectors, including highways and railways, have received the larger share of the capital expenditure pie, with an expectation that infra spending will create a multiplier effect on the economy. For the second year in a row, the Centre is betting on public infrastructure push for growth. But how good has implementation been in the last one year?