FM Jaitley may give big push to infrastructure spending

FY18 capital outlay could be 12-14% higher than previous financial year

Budget 2017-18 is likely to give a massive push to infrastructure in terms of outlay and extra budgetary resources as the Narendra Modi government looks to boost economic growth following a global slowdown abroad and demonetisation at home.

Senior government officials said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce a third straight year of record capital spending and the capital outlay for the coming financial year could be 12-14 per cent higher than the 2016-17 Budget Estimates of Rs 2.47 lakh crore. That would put the 2017-18 capital expenditure at nearly Rs 2.8 lakh crore.

Jaitley may also introduce other measures