Full Budget 2024: Centre may increase capital expenditure and welfare spending

The upcoming full budget for FY25 may see increased capital expenditure and welfare subsidy allocations compared to the estimates projected in the Interim Budget, reported Business Today. As per the report, the government is mulling to increase the estimate for capital expenditure by a further 5-7% over the estimate made in the interim budget.

Capital Expenditure in Budget

In the interim budget that was presented in February, the Centre had allocated Rs 11.11 lakh crore, representing an 11% increase over budget estimate for the previous fiscal year, and a 16.9% rise over the actual spending.

“Capital expenditure has been our focus and discussions are underway to see what can be done,” a person aware of the matter told Business Today.

This is also in line with the expectations of industries who have sought increased capital expenditure by the Centre. In a recent press conference, Chairman and Managing Director, ITC Ltd and President, Confederation of Indian Industry Sanjiv Puri suggested that the government should consider raising spending on this account by 25% this fiscal year.

He mentioned the windfall dividend of Rs 2.1 trillion from the Reserve Bank of India and robust tax receipts as supporting factors. He went on to say that an increase in spending on asset creation, combined with an anticipated rise in private investments, would help India achieve 8% real GDP growth for the second consecutive year.

Welfare Spending

The Business Today report further added that the government is considering up to a 5% increase in various subsidy allocations. The Interim Budget had allocated Rs 4.1 lakh crore for subsidies, 7% lower than the revised estimate of Rs 4.41 lakh crore for 2023-24.

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