The budgetary and extra budgetary expenditure for the infrastructure sector has been increased from Rs 4.94 lakh crore in 2017-18 to Rs 5.97 lakh crore in 2018-19. Within the sector, the transport segment received an all time high allocation of Rs 1,34,572 crore. It is proposed to develop ten prominent tourist sites into iconic tourism destinations by following a holistic approach involving infrastructure and skill development, development of technology, attracting private investment, branding and marketing. Peeyush Naidu, Partner, Deloitte India said, “The budget reaffirmed commitment to sustaining the growth in the sector by focusing on substantial increase in airport capacity.”Jaitley also announced that the Ministry of Finance will leverage the India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited to help finance infrastructure projects including investment in education and health infrastructure. Under the government’s interlinked programs of Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT, 99 cities were identified with an outlay of Rs 2.04 lakh crore under the Smart Cities Mission.

Source: dna February 02, 2018 00:11 UTC