To be sure, with fiscal consolidation also an imperative amid slowing revenue growth, it was far from easy to create room for capex.

The budget did so by axing revenue spends. To wit, effective revenue expenditure (revenue expenditure excluding revenue grants given for capex) drops from a peak of 14.4% of GDP in fiscal 2021 to 10.4% in fiscal 2024, which is nearly on a par with the pre-Covid ratio.

There are undisputed cuts in allocation for food and fertilizer subsidy, where lower prices and modifications in the free food scheme are reducing the government’s expenses. But there are also some perceived trade-offs to rural welfare support spends.

During the pandemic, despite the agriculture sector being exempt from stringent lockdown-related restrictions, the spread of the virus and fear amid supply chain and demand shocks impacted employment in the sector. Many workers left cities and returned to their villages, increasing demand for rural jobs.