Budget 2023-24: Govt may go easy on capital expenditure growth in FY24

Outlay for next year likely to be around Rs 9.5 trillion

The Central government may not expand its capital expenditure (capex) for the next financial year (FY24) to as large a degree as the increase in the previous two Budgets in the belief that private-sector capex is recovering strongly.

For this financial year (FY23), the 2022 Union Budget had targeted a capex outlay of Rs 7.5 trillion, which is 35.4 per cent higher than the FY22 Budget Estimate (BE) of Rs 5.54 trillion. And that, in turn, is higher than the FY21 BE of Rs 4.12 trillion by 34.5 per cent (see chart).

Capex expansion in the Union Budget 2023 could