Will Budget 2025 have big announcements on shipping industry?

The Union Budget for the financial year 2025-26, set to be unveiled next month, is likely to lay significant emphasis on the country's shipping sector, sources told Zee Business. The Budget may grant infrastructure status to the shipping sector along with announcements like cheaper loans for shipbuilding, they said. 

The grant of infrastructure status will lead to cost-effective loans for the long term in the space, according to the sources. 

Additionally, the upcoming Budget may mention an extension of the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy for 5-10 years, they added.

The current policy is set to expire in March 2026.

Infrastructure growth has been one of the major focus areas of the Narendra Modi government. 

The Union Budget 2025, an annual plan outlining a government's revenue and expenditure, will likely be announced on February 1. It is set to be Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's eighth Budget in a row. 

In the July 2024 Budget, the first Union Budget after the Modi government's return to power for a third straight term, the Finance Minister maintained a capital expenditure (capex) outlay for infrastructure at a record Rs 11.1 lakh crore, 3.4 per cent of GDP. The Budget also proposed Rs 1.5 lakh crore for long-term loans to states for infrastructure investments. 

Meanwhile, the Budget spending estimate of Rs 48.21 lakh crore announced in July stood 1.2 per cent over and above the Rs 47.66 lakh crore estimate presented in February.

The government reiterated its commitment to ensuring investments in the crucial infrastructure sector to promote private investments.

It also set a goal of containing fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent of GDP for the financial year ending March 2025, more ambitious than its target of 5.1 per cent in February's interim Budget. 

It plans to bring the fiscal deficit to levels below 4.5 per cent by FY26. 

The Finance Minister also announced the allocation of Rs 2 lakh crore for creating jobs over the next five years.