Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has announced a spending splurge for its new coalition partners alongside job creation schemes in an effort to shore up public support following a shock election setback last month.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party was elected to a historic third term in June but lost its ruling majority, making it dependent on two regional parties to form a governing coalition.
In the new government’s first annual budget, for the year ended March 2025, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced plans to keep capital investment at a record Rs11.11tn ($133bn) while trimming the fiscal deficit to 4.9 per cent of GDP, from its current 5.1 per cent target.