Massive shift in capital expenditure likely in Union Budget: Expert

Jamshedpur: The Union Budget will likely focus on expanding capital investment in several sectors, including infrastructure, construction, manufacturing and green energy, a professor of a top business school said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget in Parliament on Tuesday.

Over a period of time, the central government has increased capital expenditure by around 30 per cent every year, and this year, a massive shift is expected in this regard, said Dr Trilochan Tripathy, Professor of Finance at XLRI.

“India will definitely grow at faster rate because the whole attention of the government is to promote capital expenditure... The overall capital expenditure is expected to grow about 50 per cent for the 2024-25 fiscal,” he told PTI.

In the upcoming Union Budget, the finance minister is expected to set an optimistic growth target of over 7.5 per cent against the recent forecasts of 7 per cent by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), he said.

To achieve this growth target, Tripathy said there is a need for a broad-based allocation of resources across sectors.

He expressed hope that the Budget will focus on “expanding capital investment in areas like infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, green sustainable energy, clean energy technologies and defence and aerospace as these sectors are the prospective growth drivers for the economy”.

Besides, Sitharaman is likely to formulate policies for private sector participation.

India is also well poised for development in the defence sector, with the government focusing on increased investment in sectors like ports, railways and aviation, said Tripathy, who is also an Assistant Dean at XLRI.

The Centre could offer incentives or tax breaks to private players for investment in defence production and supplies, as well as implement special schemes to attract MSMEs and startups for supporting the sector, he said.

“To strengthen the defence production ecosystem, the government may collaborate with other countries or foreign companies for technology and knowledge transfer,” Tripathy said.

According to him, the government’s investment focus will also be on green hydrogen policy, green energy production and transmission, public digital platform development, high-tech manufacturing sectors like semiconductors and medical devices and artificial intelligence.

“Investments in these areas will foster economic growth, drive innovation and social development along with achieving India’s net zero emission target by 2070,” he said.

A comprehensive agricultural policy to make India self-reliant in foodgrain production might also be on the cards, the professor added.