Budget booster for transport, but no new idea for infrastructure

On Dec 31, the govt had unveiled an NIP worth Rs 1.03 trillion, listing around 6,500 projects across sectors

After the announcement of a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), the industry’s expectations for cues from the Union Budget were only partially realised, with no policy announcements or new ideas for the infra sector. 

“The capital outlay for roads, railways and metro rail projects have been budgeted to increase (only) marginally over the revised estimated for 2019-20,” said Shubham Jain, group vice-president at ratings agency ICRA. “Though there has been some increase in the allocation for roads and railways, the increase in the overall capital outlay is significantly lower when compared to the requirement under NIP.” 

The finance minister, however, announced Rs 1.7