Budget 2014 : Special emphasis on Infrastructure Development
The 2014-15 fiscal budget presented by the central finance minister Arun Jaitley has stressed on developing as well as reviving infrastructure in the country. The present government, which has been known for its agenda of strengthening the country’s infrastructure, has announced several measures in this regard.
Measures for boosting infrastructure
One of the major announcements made by the finance minister was regarding the approval of goods and service tax (GST) by the end of this year. The introduction of this tax will reduce the cost of goods including several construction materials as well.
Continuing on the government’s efforts to improve infrastructure, Jaitley announced an investment of Rs 7,600 crore for infrastructure boost in 10 cities. He also announced a proposal to allocate Rs 37,850 crore for building roads via the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Rs 500 crore to boost rural power infrastructure. With this, the government has committed to providing 24/7 power supply for houses.
Apart from these investments, the government is planning to allocate about Rs 14,400 crore for rural road plan and about Rs 3,600 crore to boost rural water supplies. Jaitley also stressed on providing focus on total sanitation of all households by 2019. About Rs 11,635 crore will be allocated for developing existing ports and harbours. Apart from developing existing ports, 16 new port projects will be awarded and a shipbuilding policy will be announced during this fiscal.
In order to boost the inflow of foreign funds, he made an announcement on making changes in tax laws governing foreign institutional investors (FIIs). This means that there will be a greater inflow of foreign funds related to infrastructure as well as non-infrastructure bonds.
All these measures and fund allocations in the new government’s maiden union budget are showing positive signs of the government’s focus on its agenda of improving the country’s infrastructure. With an improvement in infrastructure, one may also expect the real estate sector across the country to grow.
