The Union Budget 2026–27 proposes public capital expenditure of ₹12.2 lakh crore, up from ₹11.2 lakh crore in Budget Estimates 2025–26, to sustain infrastructure spending.
Presenting the Budget in Parliament, the Finance Minister said public capex has risen from ₹2 lakh crore in 2014–15 to ₹11.2 lakh crore in 2025–26 and is proposed to be raised further in 2026–27.
The Budget notes that infrastructure creation over the past decade has been supported through financing instruments such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and institutions including NIIF and NABFID. To accelerate asset recycling, the Budget proposes setting up dedicated REITs for monetisation of real estate assets of CPSEs.
To address risk during the construction phase of infrastructure projects, an Infrastructure Risk Guarantee Fund is proposed. The fund will provide partial credit guarantees to lenders to strengthen private sector participation.
For cargo movement, the Budget proposes new Dedicated Freight Corridors connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west, and the operationalisation of 20 new National Waterways over the next five years. The plan begins with National Waterway-5 in Odisha, linking Talcher and Angul with industrial centres such as Kalinga Nagar and ports at Paradeep and Dhamra. A Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme is proposed to raise the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047.
Training institutes are proposed to be developed as regional centres for skill development along the waterways. A ship repair ecosystem for inland waterways is also proposed at Varanasi and Patna.
The Budget proposes seven high-speed rail corridors to improve passenger connectivity: Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi, and Varanasi–Siliguri.
Also Read: Union Budget 2026: Key Governance Updates and Policy Highlights
To improve last-mile and remote connectivity and support tourism, a Viability Gap Funding scheme for seaplane operations is proposed, along with incentives to promote indigenous manufacturing of seaplanes.
On clean technologies, the Budget proposes an outlay of ₹20,000 crore over five years for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) across sectors including power, steel, cement, refineries and chemicals.
The Budget also proposes the creation of City Economic Regions, with a focus on Tier II and Tier III cities and temple towns. Each identified region will receive an allocation of ₹5,000 crore over five years based on mapped growth drivers.
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