oppn parties How Will The Government Fund The Rs 102 Lakh Crore Of Investments?

Story Of The Day

Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About Junk Food Near Schools

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
How Will The Government Fund The Rs 102 Lakh Crore Of Investments?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-01-04 13:18:31

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Announcing an ambitious revival package of Rs 102 lakh crore (to be invested in infrastructure projects in the next 6 years) for the economy shows that the government is aware of the problem and will take measures to reverse the downturn. But if one considers the fact that the government had managed to invest just Rs 51.2 lakh crore in such projects in the last six years, the doubling of this amount for investment in the next six years seems to be a daunting prospect, more so because government finances are under considerable strain and it has not spelled out how it will fund the projects.

The government has said that 78 percent of the projects will be shared equally by the Centre and the states while it expects the rest (22%) to be taken up by the private sector. But there are two things that make one wonder how the stiff targets will be achieved - one, the paucity of funds and two, the quality of the projects in the pipeline.

Both the Centre and the states are strapped for funds as tax collections are subdued as the economy continues to wobble. The Centre has delayed payments to states in the last two months. The cess on GST is unlikely to make up for the shortfall in the state's share. So where will the funds come from?

Further, the projects in the pipeline are not very attractive. Some of them are power projects and given the fact that they have very long gestation periods along with the fact that there is a huge subsidy on power tariff to farmers and others making them unprofitable, how is the government hoping that the private sector will take up as much as 22% of the investment proposals.

The government is facing a chicken and egg syndrome. The economy will not get a leg up if investments are not made and funds for investments (through increased tax collections) cannot come if the economy does not lookup.

The government will have to arrange for funds fast. It will have to look at all options like selling a stake in PSUs and floating foreign bonds for a limited amount. But the best way seems to be the bond route. If infrastructure bonds are floated and if the corporate bonds market is made transparent and vibrant by removing bottlenecks (as regularly suggested by The Economic Times in its editorials), ready cash can be expected to be ploughed in infrastructure projects by the man on the street. Till now, such bonds are privately placed and held to maturity. This will change if bonds find buyers in an open market. The common man will invest as they will pay more than bank fixed deposits, will be rated by rating agencies and there will be a ready market for them like shares and mutual funds. The government must seriously look at this route.

Read the latest The Economic Times editorial on funding through bonds here 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Growth Without Jobs Is a Warning

Growth Without Jobs Is a Warning

 Delhi Curbs: Has The Government Panicked?

Delhi Curbs: Has The Government Panicked?

In Depth

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Grounds Of Arrest: The Supreme Court's Rule Must Be Followed By The Police On The Ground

Editor's Pick

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along

For the Goonj to Reverberate, Rahul Gandhi Must Take Regional Parties Along
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.