The Centre has set a target to undertake budgetary

Solution

The Centre has set a target to undertake budgetary capital expenditure of Rs 6 trillion or 60% of the Budget Estimate for FY24 in the first half of the current financial year, as it seeks to minimize the adverse effect of the global demand fall on the economy. The Centre’s capex in the April-June quarter came in at Rs 2.78 trillion or 27.8% of the FY24 target compared with 23.4% of the corresponding target in the year-ago period.  The Centre has raised the capex target by 36% on-year to Rs 10 trillion (including Rs 1.3 trillion capex loans to states) for FY24 from Rs 7.36 trillion (including Rs 81,200 crore to states) actual spending in FY23, to continue the public investment-led economic recovery.  Among ministries, budgetary capex spending by railways is the highest, followed by roads. In April-June 2023, the railways have already invested Rs 78,670 crore or 33% of the annual budgetary support of Rs 2.4 trillion.