The finance ministry's austerity drive apparently cuts so deep that the signature Mumbai-Bangalore Economic Corridor was almost a non-starter for want of a few crores of rupees. The British government, which is jointly developing the project, had requested a token grant of Rs 5-6 crore from the Indian government as a goodwill gesture before signing the deal. But the finance ministry initially sat on the proposal citing an expenditure freeze until pressure from the ministry of external affairs loosened the purse strings. Another example of squeezing growth-inducing capital expenditure just to meet the fisc target?
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