The Infra Catalyst

FM bets big on infrastructure with focus on asset monetisation and sharp rise in allocations to highways and railways

- ASHUTOSH KUMAR

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman read out proposals related to the infrastructure sector immediately after announcing the much-anticipated measures on healthcare. In her speech outlining the vision for Atma Nirbhar Bharat, which contained six pillars — physical and financial capital and infrastructure figured at number two, after health and wellness — the other pillars being inclusive development, human capital, innovation and research & development.

This is a good indicator of the primacy granted to infrastructure by the Narendra Modi government, something that was well reflected in measures announced in the Budget to make the sector the pivot for job creation and turning around the economy.

The numbers speak for themselves. The proposed capital expenditure for FY22, ₹5.54 lakh crore, is 34.5 per cent higher than the FY21 Budget estimate of ₹4.12 lakh crore. Also, this is almost 26 per cent higher than the revised estimate of ₹4.39 lakh crore for FY21 and 15.91 per cent of the total expenditure of ₹34.83 lakh crore for FY22, the highest in almost 12 years.

Capital expenditure was 13.54 per cent of the total expenditure in FY21 and 12.1 per cent in FY20 (Budget estimates). In fact, the allocation in this pandemic year is more than what was made during the high growth year of FY18 (14.43 per cent of the total expenditure). In FY08, it was 18 per cent.

The capital expenditure route to growth has been the Centre's strategy ever since revival was witnessed and pent-up demand was visible beginning October. Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance, told