Will govt compromise on capex for fiscal consolidation ahead of polls?

National Democratic Alliance governments have not compromised on capex for fiscal consolidation so far, at least in their concluding years

While it is expected that the Modi regime 0.2 would be able to rein in its fiscal deficit at Rs 17.87 trillion during its concluding year 2023-24, as pegged in the Budget, it is also likely that the government may find it a bit challenging to contain it at 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) due to likely less than projected growth in the size of the economy.

Among the concluding years of the previous four governments, while the Vajpayee government bettered its Budget Estimates (BE) slightly despite the additional capital expenditure, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government,