10.23 pc Capex hike in Budget 2025-26 shows infrastructure a priority: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told NDTV in a post-budget interview that the Government's focus has been on capital expenditure (capex) in the last few years, and now it has also given a huge boost to increasing consumption.

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"A rise in capex by 10.23 per cent in comparison to RE (revised estimate) of 2024-25 takes it to over Rs 11.21 lakh crore. That is not an ordinary thing...Repeatedly, public expenditure on asset building has reached such a level that 10.23 per cent growth also seems ordinary," she told NDTV's Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.

"Our emphasis on capex has not reduced. We are also giving states interest-free capex funds," she pointed out.