Budget picks capex over populism: PM
New Delhi: Calling productive spending a hallmark of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the just unveiled Union Budget deliberately avoided short-term populism and instead channelled record capital outlays into infrastructure to drive jobs and sustainable growth.
In an interview, Modi said his government has used its years in office to plug "structural gaps left behind by earlier administrations", pursued bold reforms and laid the foundations for a developed India. He asserted that the latest Budget marks the "next level" of that journey.
Describing the Budget for fiscal year starting April 1 as reflective of his governance approach, Modi said the document "is a good reflection of our governance style and priorities". "This Budget represents the next level in this journey, imparting momentum to our 'Reform Express.' It is designed to accelerate momentum and prepare our youth for the opportunities of a rapidly changing world," the Prime Minister said.
He cited the pre-Budget Economic Survey to state that capital accumulation, labour formalisation, and digital public infrastructure together have elevated India' potential growth rate to 7 per cent. "Productive spending has been a hallmark of our government. The high capital expenditure reflects our focus on infrastructure and capital investment, which are strong engines for long-term growth," he said.
The FY27 Budget sharply scales up capital expenditure to Rs 12.2 lakh crore - a 5-times increase compared to 2013 - as the Modi government reinforces its strategy of prioritising infrastructure creation, logistics expansion and investment in sunrise sectors to drive long-term growth. It lays emphasis on spending on rail, roads, digital and energy infrastructure, alongside measures to ease compliance and improve credit flow as the central lever for job creation and economic momentum. "This reflects a conscious strategic choice to invest in assets that create productivity, jobs, and future economic capacity rather than short-term populism. This shows that our focus is on improving the quality of life for the people, creating jobs for our youth and advancing the nation's progress towards Viksit Bharat," Modi said.
For a long time, the Prime Minister said, high-quality infrastructure had been neglected, posing a challenge for the people and Indian businesses. "Broken and outdated infrastructure has no place in a nation that aspires to create a Viksit Bharat," he said. "Therefore, we revolutionised the sector with our speed, scale and focus on creating next-gen infrastructure, while upgrading the existing infrastructure. In the last decade or so, India has seen perhaps the most expansive infrastructure-building effort in our history, an unprecedented emphasis on quality! The most important aspect of this has been the way we have created infrastructure with the future in mind."
