Budgeting for Infra: After Defence, Road & Railway Ministries Bag Highest Allocations from FM

The Union Budget 2023-24 has prioritised infrastructure development as the Ministries of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Railways bagged highest allocation after the Defence Ministry. Also, the allocation to these two ministries has registered significant rise from the past, data analysed by News18 shows.

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday, MoRTH was allocated Rs 2.70 lakh crore, while Railways got the highest ever outlay at Rs 2.40 lakh crore. These two were only behind the Ministry of Defence that will receive Rs 5.94 lakh crore during the upcoming financial year.

For Railways, the Budget allocation has increased about 72% from the previous year, while for Roads, it was a jump of 35%. In the last Budget, 2022-23, MoRTH was allocated Rs 1.99 lakh crore, third highest, while the Railway ministry was allocated Rs 1.40 lakh crore, fifth highest.

In Budget 2021-22, the Railways was allocated Rs 1.10 lakh crore, seventh highest, while in 2020-21, the Ministry got Rs 0.72 lakh crore, the eighth highest among all Ministries. When compared to the 2020-21 Budget, the allocation for Railways in 2023-24 Budget has jumped by nearly 3.5 times.

For MoRTH, the jump in allocation is nearly three times between 2020-21 and 2023-24. In the 2020-21 Budget, MoRTH was allocated Rs 0.91 lakh crore – seventh highest – and in the next Budget, in 2021-22, it got Rs 1.18 lakh crore – sixth highest. Throughout these four Budgets, the Ministry of Defence has bagged the highest allocation.

BUDGET 2023-24

In her Budget speech, Sitharaman said: “A capital outlay of Rs 2.40 lakh crore has been provided for the Railways. This highest ever outlay is about nine times the outlay made in 2013-14."

She also said that at least 100 critical transport infrastructure projects, for last and first mile connectivity for ports, coal, steel, fertiliser, and food grains sectors have been identified. They will be taken up on priority with investment of Rs 75,000 crore, including Rs 15,000 crore from private sources.

She added that the newly established Infrastructure Finance Secretariat will assist all stakeholders for more private investment in infrastructure, including railways, roads, urban infrastructure and power, which are predominantly dependent on public resources. ​

The last full Budget of the second term of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government ahead of the general elections in 2024 is Sitharaman’s fifth full Budget after she took over as the Finance Minister in July 2019.