Union Budget 2025: Rise in government capex and I-T relief can boost growth, says CII president Sanjiv Puri
government capital expenditure, personal income tax relief, and targeted measures to spur manufacturing and integrate local industries into global value chains can provide the much-needed impetus for growth, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president Sanjiv Puri said on Wednesday.
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He also called for an interest rate cut in the February 1 budget and cautioned that a sharp compression on the fiscal front could dampen investments.
«We believe that the strategy on public capex is important because it enhances the competitiveness of the economy, and it also provides impetus to the economy. It has its own economic multipliers,» Puri told ET in an interview. He also said that the CII is «cognizant that the fiscal path is critical, so we are recommending that the fiscal path be followed, but not be compressed any further, because that will dampen investments,» he said.
The industry body has suggested a 25% increase in the Centre's capex in the budget for the 2025-26 financial year (FY26) from ₹11.11 lakh crore pegged for FY25.
Puri, who is the chairman and managing director of ITC Ltd, said the projected four-year low 6.4% gross domestic product (GDP) growth for FY25 in the first advance estimates released on Tuesday is a «decent» number. «The GDP numbers need to be looked at in the context of the situation across the world,»
