New Delhi:Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday hiked capital infrastructure spending by the government under Union Budget 2023-24. Capex spending has been hiked by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure development for 2023-24. This will be at 3.3 per cent of the GDP, the Finance Minister said pointing out that the outlay is three times than that made in 2020.
"Capital investment outlay is being increased steeply for the third year in a row by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore, which would be 3.3 per cent of GDP. This will be almost three times the outlay in 2019-20," Sitharaman said.
The Harmonized Master List of Infrastructure will be reviewed by an expert committee for recommending the classification and financing framework suitable for Amrit Kaal. Sitharaman said one hundred critical transport infrastructure projects, for the last and first-mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser and foodgrains sectors have been identified. "They will be taken up on priority with an investment of Rs 75,000 crore, including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources," she said.
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The Budget provides for Rs 35,000 cr for priority capital investment towards energy transition and net zero objective. The government will be spending Rs 10,000 crore per year for the urban infra development fund. Infrastructure growth has been offering multiplier effects in the economy, he said. Under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), over 89,151 projects worth Rs 141.4 lakh crore are under various stages of implementation. The government has also launched the National Monetisation Pipeline with an investment potential of Rs 9 lakh crore.
The Union Budget also promises 50 additional airports, heliports, water aerodromes, and advanced landing zones to be revitalised. It has also planned for 100 critical transport infrastructure projects for steel, ports, fertiliser, coal and foodgrain sectors. These have been identified with an investment of Rs75,000 crore including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources.
"Investment in infrastructure has a large multiplier effect", she said adding that after the subdued period of the pandemic, private investments are growing again. "The Budget takes the lead once again to ramp up the virtuous cycle of investment and job creation," she added.
Earlier in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan 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 Network Planning Group (NPG), constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, Sitharaman.
