New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday presented the ninth consecutive Union Budget in Lok Sabha. During her speech, the Finance Minister outlined the plans for the infrastructure sector. She said that over the past decade, the Modi government placed a strong emphasis on infrastructure investment. The focus on infrastructure and basic facilities in cities with a population of over five lakh will continue.
Here are some of the key details:
- A proposal has been made to raise capital expenditure to ₹12.2 lakh crore in 2026–27.
- An Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund will be set up to provide partial loan guarantees.
- A proposal has been made to accelerate the recycling of real estate assets through dedicated REITs.
- Several proposals will be introduced to promote environmentally friendly movement of cargo.
- A Dedicated Freight Corridor will be developed from Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west.
Developing city-economic regions
During her speech, she also spoke on developing city-economic regions (CER), Sitharaman proposes an allocation of Rs. 5,000 crore per CER over five years for implementing plans. Seven high-speed rail corridors will be developed as growth collectors. These will include Mumbai-Pune, Pune-Hyderabad, Hyderabad-Bengaluru, Hyderabad-Chennai, Chennai-Bengaluru, Delhi-Varanasi and Varanasi-Siliguri.
