Centre may review FY24 capex plans in Oct-Nov
NEW DELHI : The government may review its capital expenditure plans for this fiscal year during pre-budget meetings slated to start in October-November, two senior officials said. This comes amid expectations that the Narendra Modi administration will announce a slew of popular schemes in the coming months ahead of general elections early next year.
For now, the government plans to stick to the provisions made in the 2023-24 annual budget, and doesn’t have any plan to exceed the provisioned capex, one of the officials said on condition of anonymity. “It’s too early to think about capex recalibration," the person said.
“We will not do any such thing till the revised estimate discussions happen in October-November 2023," the person added. However, a fresh assessment of higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth before the end of the calendar year could provide the government with more legroom for expanding expenditure.
While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects the Indian economy to grow at 6.5% this fiscal, economists at State Bank of India (SBI) estimated the economy to have grown 8.3% in the June quarter, and exceed RBI’s GDP forecast for this fiscal. A Union finance ministry spokesperson didn’t respond to queries.
The government, which unveiled ₹1.18 trillion worth of programmes spanning mobility to digital sectors recently, plans to make more mega announcements during the festive season until the year-end, Mint reported earlier this month. The proposed announcements may include a ₹1 trillion mission mode project to modernize the railway signalling system, a ₹3 trillion Bharatmala Phase-2 programme to boost connectivity to infrastructure projects such as multi-modal logistics parks and ongoing expressways, a
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