Budget: Govt increases capital expenditure by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Wednesday that the government intends to boost capital expenditure by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24, representing 3.3 percent of GDP.

“(This outlay) would be 3.3 per cent of GDP, almost three times the outlay made in 2019-20. With substantial increase, it is central to government’s efforts to enhance growth potential and job creation, crowd in private investments and provide cushion against global headwinds,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in Parliament today. 

Furthermore, Sitharaman stated that the government intends to expand the agricultural credit objective to Rs 20 lakh crore, with a focus on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries. In the last six years, the country’s agriculture industry has grown at a 4.6 percent yearly rate on average.
She also stated that the government will develop a sub-scheme of the existing PM Matsya plan to increase value chain efficiencies.

At 11 a.m., Sitharaman began her Budget speech, the last full Budget of the Modi government’s second term. Union Budget 2023-24, like the previous two Union Budgets, is presented in paperless form.
This year’s Budget is significant since the country’s next Lok Sabha election is expected for April-May 2024.

As is customary, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, state ministers Pankaj Chaudhary and Bhagwat Karad, and Finance Secretary T V Somanathan paid a visit to President Droupadi Murmu.
Sitharaman is presenting her sixth budget.

The budget session of Parliament opened on Tuesday with the President’s address, followed by the postponement of the Economomic Survey for 2022-23. On October 10, the formal process of preparing the annual Budget for the next fiscal year (2023-24) began.