Government spending on infrastructure should continue until private investment returns to the levels seen in the past, Tata Steel Ltd chief executive T.V. Narendran said on Thursday in the run-up to next month’s Union budget.
Narendran, also president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said the fact that businesses are using 70-80% of production capacities and planning new investments should not stop the government from continuing to spend.
Narendran’s appeal comes at a time the government is preparing the Union budget for the fiscal starting 1 April against the backdrop of buoyant revenue collections and the fiscal deficit position staying well under control. The fiscal deficit in the April-November period is 46% of the ₹15 trillion budget estimate for this fiscal, having overshot the full-year target at the same time a year ago.