To augment the country’s infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed significant enhancing of capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal
New Delhi : The increased capital expenditure for infrastructure announced in the Budget will help India upgrade its power transmission and distribution network and give further impetus to renewable energy growth, industry players said.
To augment the country’s infrastructure, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed significant enhancing of capital expenditure to Rs 5.54 lakh crore in the next fiscal, besides creating institutional structures and giving a big thrust to monetising assets to achieve the goals of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).
Sitharaman also proposed a Rs 3.05 lakh crore scheme spread over five years to revive discoms and a framework to provide electricity consumers an option to choose from service providers.
Simarpreet Singh, director, Hartek Group, said “the increase in allocation for infrastructure will boost the power sector on the whole. It will help in upgrading the country’s T&D (power transmission and distribution) network and building on grid connectivity to ensure efficient evacuation of solar energy, particularly the ambitious Green Energy Corridor scheme.”
Gyanesh Chaudhary, managing director, Vikram Solar, said the additional allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for the Solar Energy Corporation of India and another Rs 1,500 crore for the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency will certainly give further impetus to renewable energy growth.
Additionally, the industry believes that raising duty on solar invertors from 5 per cent to 20 per cent and on solar lanterns from 5 per cent to 15 per cent will encourage domestic production and create demand for the same.
Ishaan Singh Bedi, CEO – Synchronized, said, “The Budget has shown belief in the growing warehouse industry and optimistic 3PL (third party logistics) efforts. The need for an independent gas transportation system operator is the need of the hour.”
Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and MD of Essar Ports, termed the announcement of the National Asset Monetization Pipeline, which will include transmission lines of Power Grid, oil and gas pipelines, airports and toll roads, “a game changer.”
The government’s increased focus on the infrastructure sector will certainly bring in positive measures for the holistic growth of the logistics and maritime sector. No new tax is a very big positive in these times, he added.
Source : PTI
