A CAPEX INTENSIVE BUDGET

The pre-election Union Budget 2023-24 turned out to be CapEx-intensive. Ashish Bhatia looks at the leeway for green mobility and infrastructure over the next fiscal.

The Union Budget 2023 turned out to be CapEx intensive despite being a pre-election year. At 3.3 per cent of the GDP, the capital investment outlay was raised for the third year in a row to rupees 10 lakh crore. The increase is pegged at 33 per cent. Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in her fifth budget presented to the parliament, pointed at the 3x raise over 2019-20. Calling it the first budget in Amrit Kaal” she set out to reflect an empowered and inclusive economy. Building on the foundation laid last year with Union Budget 2022-23), she hailed the seven per cent growth rate as the highest among world economies. Admitting to the Covid-19 and war-induced slowdown, she put across her firm belief that the nation was on the right track. She spoke highly of India’s global profile due to several accomplishments under the BJPled government and weaved the budget aimed at building a world class infrastructure with a focus on green mobility and integrated transport.

Setting out to achieve climaterelated goals the National Hydrogen Mission plan has the country aiming for a production of Five MMTA of hydrogen and bolster its energy independence agenda. The action plan for establishing a Green Hydrogen ecosystem and catalysing a systemic response to the opportunities and challenges of this sunrise sector is in line to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. Calling the budget people-centric’, aimed at offering a better quality of life, and one offering a conducive environment for business, it circled back to progress on Sustainable Development Goals SDGs).