Explore Business Standard
Private sector capital expenditure is unlikely to pick up in a sustained way despite India Inc's profitability being near decadal high, domestic ratings agency Crisil said on Thursday. The profitability of India Inc is set to increase for the third year in a row in FY26 on the back of soft commodity prices, the agency said. An analysis of 800 companies excluding ones in the banking and finance and oil and gas sectors revealed that the pre-tax profit margins are set to widen to up to 20 per cent in FY26. It can be noted that the government is leading the investments in the economy for the last few years, and there have been calls for a revival in the corporate capex as well. However, rather than investing to create new capacities, India Inc has deployed money to retire debt and other measures rather than investing it even though the capacity utilisation levels are high. "Their (corporates') ability to invest is not matched by the willingness to invest at this juncture," the agency'
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) on Monday said the FY26 Budget should focus on a mix of fiscal consolidation roadmap, while boosting consumption demand, and capex spending. The Centre in the FY22 Union Budget had provided a fiscal consolidation glide path till FY26 according to which the fiscal deficit will be brought down to 4.5 per cent of the GDP. "By adhering to the outlined targets, it builds up fiscal credibility which is important for various stakeholders especially investors in gauging the fiscal health of the economy. It also helps in curtailing inflation which has been sticky during FY24-FY25. "This is one of the reasons for weak consumption demand in the economy which has kept private investments in wait-and-watch mode. Thus, measures to stimulate consumption demand in the economy through income tax relief may be announced in the forthcoming budget," Ind-Ra said. Against the backdrop of the past three quarters of growth slowdown, Ind-Ra expects the FY26 Union Budget
The government will be able to register the fiscal deficit at 4.75 per cent in FY25, 0.19 per cent lower than the budget aim, by reigning in expenditure, domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research said on Wednesday. The revenue expenditure, excluding subsidies, will be 0.12 per cent of GDP, lower than the budget estimate, the rating agency added. Its chief economist and head of public finance Devendra Kumar Pant said the government capital expenditure will come out to be Rs 62,000 crore lower than the estimate of Rs 11.11 lakh crore. Pant was quick to add that the government capex will still be 10.6 per cent higher than the year-ago period. The government was initially envisaging a 17.6 per cent growth in the key number. Even as there is a dip in the government capital expenditure projected, the capex to GDP in FY25 at 3.21 per cent is estimated to be at a two-decade high, the agency said. "The FY25 capex growth has been impacted by the general elections in May 2024, and ca