12% hike in outlay likely

RUN-UP TO THE BUDGET

The government is likely to go in for a significant hike in budgetary allocation for infrastructure.

It plans to allocate Rs 21,500 crore for railway, roads and shipping, sources in the government say. This is a 12 per cent increase over Rs 19,600 crore allocated to these segments in the last year's Budget.

The significant increase indicates the importance the government attaches to these three core sectors. The UPA government has increasingly been emphasising the importance of developing basic infrastructure of the country.

The shipping sector was allocated Rs 700 crore in the last Budget, while in the forthcoming Budget, it is expected to receive around Rs 780 crore, which would be a 11.4 per cent increase over last year.

The road sector received Rs 11,400 crore in the last Budget while according to highway ministry sources, the sector was likely to get around Rs 13,500 crore, which would be a 9.6 per cent increase over last year.

Sources say such significant increases in allocations underlines the government's efforts to modernise the highway and shipping sectors (especially the latter) While the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) has been in the forefront for the last few years, the prime minister's call for six-laning of highways is expected to be a major thrust area in the coming fiscal.

Already, the roads and highway ministry has gone ahead and got Cabinet clearance for NHDP phase VI, which involves six laning of 1,000 km of highways.

The shipping sector, relegated mostly to the background compared to other areas of focus, too has been quite active during the UPA government's regime. While the shipping ministry is in the midst of implementing the Sethusamudram canal project, the National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP) too has been the focal point of the ministry, as it is a 20 year plan meant for integral development of the sector.

Sources say that the expected 11.4 per cent increase in the expected allocation highlights the government's commitments towards its maritime goals.

The railway sector, too is expected to receive around Rs 7,500 crore as allocation in the upcoming budget. If this comes around, then it would be a 10 per cent increase over its previous budgetary allocation of Rs 6,800 crore.

This however does not come as a surprise what with the railway ministry continuously harping on the importance of public-private partnership (PPP).

And with its ambitious plans like the dedicated freight corridor, commercial usage of land and increasing focus on signalling and electrification works, coming up, the increased allocation will only benefit its coffers.