Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a total allocation of INR 3,96,134 crore for the infrastructure sector for the year 2017-2018.
For transportation sector, including rail, roads, shipping, Budget 2017 provides INR 241387 crores in 2017-18.
Road Sector:The Budget allocation for the sector has been increased for Highways from INR 57976 crores in BE 2016-17 to INR 64900 crores in 2017-18.
Furthermore, 2000 kms of coastal connectivity roads have been selected for construction and development to improve and better connectivity with ports and remote villages.
The total length of roads, including those under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), built from 2014-15 till the present year is around 140000 kilometres, which is significantly higher than previous three years.
Civil Aviation infrastructure:The select airports in Tier 2 cities will be taken up for operation and maintenance in the Public Private Partnership mode.
The AAI Act will be amended to enable effective monetization of land assets. The resources will be utilized for upgradation of airports.
Telecom sector: TThe allocation for the BharatNet Project has been stepped up to INR10000 crores in 2017-2018.
Also, 155000 kms of Optical Fiber Cables have been laid. By the close of of 2017-2018, high speed broadband connectivity on optical fiber will be present in more than 150000 gram panchayats, with WiFi hot spots and access to digital services at affordable tariffs.
A DigiGaon initiative will be launched to provide tele-medicine, education and skills through digital technology.
Railways: For 2017-18, the total capital and development expenditure on Railways has been estimated at INR 131000 crores. This includes INR 55000 crores as provided by the Union Government.
As per the Finance Minister, the Railways will focus on four major areas:- Passenger safety,
- Capital and development works,
- Cleanliness, and
- Finance and accounting reforms.
Railway lines of 3500 kms will be commissioned in 2017-18, as against 2800 kms in the previous fiscal.
500 stations will be made accessible to differently-abled by providing lifts and escalator.
Service charge on e-tickets booked through IRCTC has been taken back. Cashless reservations has risen from 58 per cent to 68 per cent.
A new Metro Rail Policy will be put in place with focus on innovative models of implementation and financing, along with standardization and indigenization of hardware and software.
The ‘Coach Mitra’ facility, a single window interface for registering all coach related complaints and requirements, is to be launched.
Energy sector:The Union Government has taken the decision to set up Strategic Crude Oil Reserves.
In the first phase, 3 such Reserve facilities have been established. It is proposed that these will be set up at 2 more locations, namely, Chandikhole (Odisha) and Bikaner (Rajasthan), during the second phase.
This will bring the India’s strategic reserve capacity to 15.33 MMT.
The Finance Minister also suggested to create an integrated public sector oil major, which will match the global standards.
Announcement for the second phase of Solar Park development was also proposed to be taken up for extra 20000 MW capacity.
Allocation for incentive schemes like M-SIPS and EDF have been considerably increased to an all-time high of INR 745 crores in 2017-18.
Further, a new and restructured Central scheme, called Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) will be launched in 2017-18 to aim for export infrastructure in a competitive world.
