India 2023/24 budget raises capex spend to 10 trillion rupees

MUMBAI (Reuters) -The Indian government will spend 10 trillion rupees ($122.3 billion) on longer term capital expenditure in 2023/24, extending a strategy adopted to revive growth in the aftermath of the COVID crisis.

The allocation is higher than the 7.5 trillion rupees budgeted for in the previous year and the highest on record.

The year-on-year increase of 33% is only marginally lower than last year’s 35% jump.

The ratio of capex-to-GDP, which rose to 2.7% in 2022/23, is estimated at 3.3% in the new financial year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The government will also continue a 1.3 trillion rupees long-term loan to states for longer term investments, the minister said.

($1 = 81.7725 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

tagreuters.com2023binary_LYNXMPEJ1017V-VIEWIMAGE