“The Government has decided to keep its action plan for the infrastructure sector simple. The major requirement for the roads and highways and the infra sector is fund and the government has tried to address that by increasing capital outlays.
Along with the capital infusion, the government has also declared the ambit of tax-free bonds once more which will allow the sector to call upon foreign investors and drive up foreign investment inflow in the sector.We are also glad that the government has decided to keep its focus on the Public Private Partnership play in the infrastructure sector and Mr Jaitley’s words that the government will seek to increase public capex in the PPP format will instil enough confidence in the private players to go for PPP models to expedite the development of roads and infra projects which will be essential to compliment India’s economic growth.
The government’s decision to convert the excise duty of Rs4 on petrol, diesel into road cess augurs very well for roads and highways sector as it has enabled the government to allocate an additional 14,000 crores for the sector.
The additional revenue shall help the government fuel its ambitious National Highways Development Project and introduce the e-toll collection system which shall help save another Rs 88,000 crore.”
