Starting with an allocation of around Rs1.81 trillion in 2014-15, expenditure towards infrastructure reached Rs4.94 trillion in 2017-18. The budget also levied a Rs8 per litre road and infrastructure cess on imported petrol and diesel. “The government and market regulators have taken necessary measures for development of monetizing vehicles like Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and Real Estate Investment Trust (ReITs) in India. These measures will be operationalised given that India will face a $526 billion infrastructure investment gap by 2040, according to the latest Economic Survey. As part of the new integrated infrastructure planning model, the National Democratic Alliance government unveiled the largest-ever rail and road budget of Rs1.48 trillion and Rs1.21 trillion, respectively in 2018-19.

Source: Mint February 01, 2018 23:51 UTC