Infrastructure woes

Redistributive schemes take their toll on allocation

The first National Democratic Alliance government, under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, gave infrastructure development priority and treated it as the most important engine of economic growth and job creation in the country. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi too this focus has stayed, as reflected in allocations in the last four Budgets. In this year’s interim Budget, however, the central focus was on reaching out to the disadvantaged sections of society. To a great extent, the government’s Budget priorities mirrored the electoral pressures as well as the populist tone across political parties in the run-up to the elections. That is why the