Govt expenditure on big infra projects to drive growth in 2025-26: Report

New Delhi: The Centre’s capital expenditure in big-ticket infrastructure projects such as highways, railways and power development and investments in critical sectors such as defence are expected to propel India’s economic growth in the financial year 2025- 2026 and beyond, according to a report by financial services firm Prabhudas Lilladher (PL).

“We are already witnessing an uptick in momentum in railways, defence, power, data Centers, etc., the execution of which will accelerate growth in FY26 and beyond,” the report states.

The government allocated a massive Rs 11.1 lakh crore for infrastructure projects in the budget for 204-25 and this is expected to be increased further in the forthcoming budget for 2025-26.

The anticipated measures to pump-prime the economy could provide the much-needed push to stimulate demand and support long-term growth, the report states.

The report states that the forthcoming budget will be instrumental in shaping the economic recovery, with expectations of a growth-driven focus aimed at boosting middle-class spending with inflation having eased.

In addition, sectors such as healthcare, tourism, discretionary consumption, and financialisation are poised to benefit from the recovery, according to the report.

The report’s observations on the economic revival are supported by the surge in industrial growth which touched a 6-month high of 5.2 per cent in November, up from 3.5 per cent in October of the current financial year (2024-25), according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Friday.

The increase also marks a significant rise over the industrial growth of 2.5 per cent recorded a year before in November 2023.

The growth rate of the manufacturing sector, which accounts for more than three-fourths of the index of industrial production (IIP), accelerated to 5.8 per cent during Nov 2024 from 4.1 per cent in October. This augurs well for employment generation as the sector plays a key role in providing quality jobs to the young graduates passing out from the country’s engineering institutes and universities.

The figures on use-based classification show that the production of capital goods, which comprise machines used in factories, went up by a robust 9 per cent. This segment reflects the real investment taking place in the economy which has a multiplier effect on the creation of jobs and incomes going ahead.

There was also a double-digit surge of 13.1 per cent in the production of consumer durables such as electronic goods, refrigerators, and TVs during November 2024 reflecting the higher consumer demand for these items amid rising incomes.

–IANS