Interim Budget balances need for equitable growth, says CII president

He welcomed govt's push for infrastructure, capex-led growth

President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) R Dinesh on Thursday welcomed the government's decision to increase the capital expenditure by 11 per cent for FY25, terming the Interim Budget a “Budget of equitable growth”.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday the government proposes to increase capital expenditure (capex) outlay by 11.1 per cent to Rs 11.11 lakh crore in 2024-25.

Dinesh said the Interim Budget shows signs of fiscal prudence without sacrificing growth and infrastructure push.

“Increasing the capital expenditure by 11.1 per cent is a very welcome step. The capital expenditure target is lower than our forecast, but it is a significant increase from 10 lakh crore, with an increase of another 1 lakh one thousand crore. So, it's good, but obviously, we would have been happy with 20 per cent,” he added.

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Speaking on the fiscal deficit targets announced by the finance minister, he said the Budget is looking at fiscal consolidation.

“Our recommendation was 5.4 per cent but the 5.1 per cent fiscal deficit for FY25 is a very significant step forward. The theme of this Budget is continuity and making sure that growth is taken care of while balancing the need for equitable growth," he said.

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Sitaraman announced a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore with a 50-year interest-free loan for long-term financing, refinancing at low or nil interest rates for the private sector, saying: “This will encourage the private sector to scale up research and innovation in sunrise domains.”

Reacting to the announcement, Dinesh said that it is a big step forward and will help support MSMEs and generate employment in the long run.

"This is a very big step forward and was one of the recommendations of the industry because it does help create the ability of atma nirbharta (self-reliance) from an R&D and innovation perspective," he added.

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The government will also launch a new scheme for researching deep tech technologies for defence purposes.

Sitharaman made a slew of announcements to support the rural economy, including 2 crore new houses under PM Awas Yojna (Grameen) in the next 5 years, focussed programmes for creating post-harvest infrastructure, and creation of an additional 1 lakh lakhpati didis, among others.

The government also plans to come up with an additional scheme to provide housing for the middle class that would provide support to people living on rent, in chawls or unauthorised colonies.

Sanjiv Puri, President-Designate, CII said the Budget shows an enhanced focus on agriculture and rural economy.

“It is a roadmap to creating productive resources, with a focus on rural housing and agro-processing industries. This will have a multiplier effect, creating employment and resources in rural areas,” he said.