By Admin 
Budget 2026: The countdown to Budget 2026 has started. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the country’s general budget on Sunday, February 1. This will be the 88th budget to be presented in Parliament since the country’s independence. Along with this, there will also be the ninth budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It is being told that the government can maintain its focus on Capex in the new budget. The amount of Capex for FY26 has been kept at Rs 11.21 lakh crore, which may increase by 10-15 percent.
How much will the expenditure on capex be increased?
Experts say, there is a lot of scope to increase expenditure on capex in the coming budget. Ranen Banerjee, partner and leader of economic advisory services at PwC, told PTI, “I believe the capacity to utilize capital expenditure in the economy is not very high. If you want to increase it by 30 per cent overnight, it is not going to happen because you need the capacity of construction companies, you need the capacity of heavy earth-moving machinery, you need a lot of machines so it cannot increase by 30 per cent overnight.” I believe that we can expect an increase of about 10 percent for this.
The Union Budget on February 1 could prove to be a turning point for the capex trade, which had lost its momentum in the last one year. When the government increased its expenditure in the first six months of the financial year 2026, there was a general growth in work also. Now investors are waiting for the government’s stance in this regard in the new budget. Recent indications also show that the government will maintain fiscal discipline, so there is little possibility of much spending on Capex. Like every time during the budget, people’s attention will be focused on defence, railways and infrastructure.
What is capex?
Capex or Capital Expenditure is the expenditure that the government makes on its long-term assets like roads, bridges, railways, hospitals. The higher the capex, the larger will be the expenditure on these sectors. If this will lead to their development, the economic potential of the country will also increase to some extent.
The total capex in the first six months of the financial year 2025-26 stood at Rs 5.80 lakh crore, which is 40 percent more than last year. In one of his interviews last year, the Finance Minister had said that the government’s focus was on Capex earlier and is still the same. Under Capex, the maximum expenditure is being incurred on road transport, highways and railways. Apart from these, expenditure is also increasing in segments like renewable energy, data center and electric vehicles.
Who is ahead, railways or defence?
The defense sector is expected to be the biggest beneficiary in the budget. Brokerage Motilal Oswal expects defense spending in FY27 to increase by 15 percent from the estimated base of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. This sector is getting strength from emergency purchase, emphasis on indigenization and increasing allocation for industry.
Expenditure on railways is also expected to increase. The government can focus on safety, better signaling and purchase of new vehicles. Apart from these, the allocation for the remaining major segments of roads, housing and railways is expected to be modest.
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