NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) – India’s government on Wednesday unveiled a $550 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, with a plan for record capital spending while curbing the fiscal deficit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which faces elections in key states this year and a national vote in 2024, has been under pressure to create jobs in the country of 1.4 billion where many have struggled to get employment and a decent wage.
Below are some key figures in graphs from the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
WHERE WILL THE MONEY TO RUN EXPENDITURE COME FROM?
The government is targeting revenue growth of 12% to 26.32 trillion rupees.
TAXABLE INCOME
For the year, the government aims for an 11.4% increase in net tax revenue to 23.3 trillion rupees.
MARKET LENDING
Gross market lending is estimated at 15.43 billion rupees ($189 billion), while net lending is seen at 11.81 trillion rupees.
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The net borrowing excludes 781 billion rupees of bonds given to states to compensate for a lack of goods and services tax, reducing repayments next year.
New Delhi also aims to float bonds worth 1 trillion rupees next year, after floating bonds worth 1.03 trillion rupees this year.
SHIPMENTS Receipts
The government expects to raise 510 billion rupees from the sale of investments in various state-owned companies.
EXPENSES
The government raised its spending target by 7.5% to 45.03 trillion rupees for 2023/24.
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
The government will spend 10 trillion rupees on long-term capital expenditure in 2023/24, extending a strategy adopted to revive growth after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The allocation is higher than the 7.5 trillion rupees budgeted for the current year. The year-over-year increase of 33% follows last year’s jump of 35%.
BIG GRANTS
The government cut major subsidies by 28% to 3.75 trillion rupees for the next fiscal year.
FISCAL DEFICIT
The government will target a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2023/24, down from this year’s 6.4%. A Reuters poll pegged the budget gap at 6% of GDP.
($1 = 81.8150 Indian Rupees)
Compiled by Aftab Ahmed; Editing by Kim Coghill
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