Industry cheers infrastructure facelift in India budget
AFP, New Delhi
India's shabby infrastructure, seen as a key roadblock to wooing foreign investment, stands to get a major makeover under ambitious plans announced by the government in the country's annual budget. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed in Monday's federal budget major spending on big-ticket infrastru-cture items like highways, metro rail networks, ports, airports, power and telecommunications. "The importance of infrastru-cture for rapid economic develop-ment cannot be overstated. The most glaring deficit in India is the infrastructure deficit," the Harvard-educated finance minister told Parliament. Giant rival China received 60 billion dollars in foreign investment money in 2004, Chidambaram noted in his budget speech. India, by contrast, received less than four billion dollars. The thrust on India's infrastructure is pragmatic," said Indraneil Borkakoty, vice president of ICICI Securities. "It will boost employment, investment and growth." The announcement of the plans for big-ticket spending sent Bombay shares soaring by over two percent to hit a record closing high of 6,713.86 points.
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