Inside Modi’s game plan to bring in investment for infrastructure

Two king-sized numbers stand out in Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget: Rs 100 lakh crore and Rs 50 lakh crore. The numbers — estimates of investments required for infrastructure development across the country and the railways, respectively — suggest the government is now willing to make enough space for private players who can bring in the money.

The finance minister said on July 5 that Rs 100 lakh crore (roughly $1.45 trillion) was needed for infrastructure development across the country in the next five years. Sitharaman seemed to have chosen the words carefully when she said “the government has announced its intention to invest” this amount. The government would have to bring in Rs 20 lakh crore a year to meet this target. The Economic Survey, presented a day