India might overshoot capex target of ₹11.1 trillion for FY25, no downside risk to growth: Economic Affairs Secretary

India might undershoot its capex target of 11.1 trillion rupees ($131.72 billion) for fiscal year 2024-25, a top finance ministry official said on Wednesday.

Food prices are a problem area but, other than that, inflation poses no challenge, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth said at an event in New Delhi.

Retail inflation in India soared to its highest level in 14 months in October, partly due to high prices of edible oils, onions and tomatoes.

The Indian government’s infrastructure spending, critical to one of the world’s fastest economic growth rates, has been slow in the current year due to national elections.

Between April and September, the government spent just over 37% of its budgeted target of 11.1 trillion rupees for 2024-25, compared with 49% of the previous year’s target, according to government figures.

But Seth said the government saw no downside risks to its growth projection of 6.5%-7% for fiscal year 2024-25.

Meanwhile, an earlier report said that India is considering the relaxation of quarterly spending limits to ensure it does not fall short of its capital expenditure target for the financial year 2024/2025,

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