Ease fiscal deficit, look at higher spend for future: Assocham President

Infra spending has thrice the desired impact, govt's Rs 111 trn National Infrastructure Pipeline should be speeded up, says Vineet Aggarwal

New Assocham President Vineet Aggarwal has batted for fiscal expansion in the form of higher expenditure in the upcoming Budget. 

“Fiscal relaxation is critical, and the focus should be on spending when the world comes out of this once-in-a-hundred-years kind of crisis," Aggarwal told Business Standard. 

As spending on infrastructure has three times the desired impact, the government’s Rs 111 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline should be accelerated, Aggarwal said. 

The government should also focus on projects that promote multimodal logistics as currently about 60 per cent of freight is moved through roads and costs can be reduced by moving freight