Anticipated surge in road budget signals infrastructure boost

The government proposes to remain focused on rapid infrastructure growth in the next financial year and may even allow another big increase of 20-25% in capex allocations for the roads ministry in order to speed up road construction. A substantial portion of higher allocation would also go toward meeting the capital expenditure of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which, having been put on a moratorium for market borrowings for the past couple of years, is now being funded entirely by the government. A 25% increase in capex for ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) will take its budget to over Rs 3.2 trillion, the highest-ever. This would allow it to build more greenfield highways and expressways, giving a leg-up to transport infrastructure that is key to propelling economic growth. The higher capex for the roads ministry may be announced in the interim budget to be presented in Parliament in February, adding that MoRTH has already indicated the numbers in its pre-budget consultations.