The Centre’s ₹12.2 lakh crore capital expenditure (capex) outlay for 2026–27 will be primarily channelled into shipbuilding, national highways, railways and metro rail projects, Expenditure Secretary V Vualnam said.
In a post-Budget interaction with PTI, Vualnam said sectors with large ongoing and new infrastructure projects—especially highways, railways and urban transport systems, including metro networks—will continue to dominate public capital spending in the next financial year.
The government has budgeted total expenditure of over ₹53.47 lakh crore for 2026–27, with capital expenditure pegged at ₹12.22 lakh crore. The spending is aimed at strengthening physical infrastructure and supporting long-term economic growth.
Highlighting shipbuilding as an emerging priority area, Vualnam said the sector has now been accorded infrastructure status and is expected to play a significantly larger role going forward.
“Shipbuilding has become an infrastructure sector and will now be a big player. We are very keen to improve our share in global shipbuilding. Of India’s import-export cargo, only about 5 per cent is carried on India-owned ships. Around ₹6 lakh crore annually is spent on rentals to foreign shipping companies. Addressing this will remain our focus,” he said.
To support the push, the Union Cabinet had approved a ₹69,725 crore package in September last year to revive India’s shipbuilding and maritime sector. The package is based on a four-pillar strategy aimed at expanding domestic capacity, improving access to long-term financing, promoting greenfield and brownfield shipyard development, strengthening technical capabilities and skilling, and introducing legal, taxation and policy reforms to build a robust maritime ecosystem.
For the current financial year, the government has revised its capital expenditure estimate to ₹10.95 lakh crore, lower than the original budgeted ₹11.21 lakh crore.
Public capital expenditure has increased sharply over the past decade, rising from around ₹2 lakh crore in 2014–15 to ₹12.2 lakh crore in 2026–27. The capex estimate for FY27 stands at 4.4 per cent of GDP—the highest level recorded so far.