Infrastructure Growth Hits Three-Year Low In Fiscal 2018

New Delhi: Infrastructure growth slowed to a three-year low of 4.2 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March, indicating Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces a tough challenge to boost investment ahead of general elections due early next year.

Annual output growth was 4.2 per cent during the 2017/18 fiscal year that ended in March, lower than 4.8 per cent in the previous year, and dragged down by slower growth in the production of coal, steel and electricity, according to data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

PM Modi, who is expected to seek a second five-year term next year, has eased several rules and pumped billion of dollars of state funds into building roads, ports, and airports to support economic growth and create jobs.

The government completed on Sunday the electrification of all its villages 12 days ahead of a deadline set by PM Modi, which could give the ruling party a boost ahead of a general election in 2019.

Analysts, however, say higher borrowing costs and delays in official clearances for projects have hit private investments.

Some 356 infrastructure projects, each costing Rs 150 crore or more, had been delayed by up to five years, leading to a total cost overrun of Rs 2.19 lakh crore ($32.9 billion), according to government estimates.

Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, steel, cement and electricity, accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the country's industrial output.

Steel output growth slowed to 5.6 per cent in the year ending in March from 10.7 per cent in the previous year. Cement output was up 6.3 per cent in same period compared to a 1.2 per cent fall, indicating a pick up in construction activity.

In March, infrastructure growth slowed to a three-month low of 4.1 per cent from a year ago, government data showed.

Asia's third-largest economy has been held back for years by a shortage of energy sources such as electricity, coal and transport fuel, leaving industries to cope with blackouts and hospitals to rely on diesel-run generators as a back-up power supply.

The government plans to spend Rs 5.97 lakh crore ($89.7 billion) on infrastructure in 2018/19 fiscal year, more than three times what was allocated in 2014/15.

The economy is expected to grow over 7 per cent in current fiscal year beginning in April, up from an estimated 6.6 pct in the previous year.