Budget
In 10 charts: Budget 2025 report card on railways, roads, education and health
Summary
- A four-part data series on how Budget 2025 performed on 15 key concerns the country faces.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2025-26 on Saturday. The Budget 2025 presents a chance for the government to show its intent on some of the burning issues of our times. In this four-part series, we use charts to illustrate how the budget performed on 15 key concerns.
This part looks at railway safety, roads, education and health spending, and capital expenditure. Each topic has a pair of charts—one presenting the context the budget faced and the other showing what Sitharaman delivered.
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Railways
The Indian Railways has faced criticism over train safety following some major accidents. While the number of 'consequential' accidents has reduced in the past decade, it is still significant and needs a renewed Budget focus. The Centre's allocation to railway safety has been stuck at about 20% of total capital and revenue expenditure on railways. There have been growing calls to enhance railway safety, including the installation of advanced signalling systems, track upgrades, and the introduction of modern coaches.
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Education
India’s spending on education has always been a key issue ahead of the Budget. Of late, employability has become a big concern as well, with students finding it difficult to master the right skills to land good job opportunities. While employability has steadily risen, it remains sub-par at just 55%. The spending share of the education ministry has declined over the years and has remained below the 3% mark as a share of total expenditure. There is a dire need to spend more on education to ensure it supports the changing dynamic of the job markets.
Capital spending
Back in 2019, the government lowered corporate tax rates significantly in a bid to revive India Inc.'s animal spirits and private capital expenditure. However, this was soon followed by the pandemic-induced slowdown in growth momentum. While growth is back on track, private capital expenditure remains lacklustre. At the same time, due to the tax cuts, the Centre's corporate tax collections as a share of total tax revenue have come down drastically.
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Health spending
Apart from high food prices, rising medical and healthcare costs have also burdened the common people. To protect poor families from catastrophic health expenses, the government launched its flagship health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat, in 2018. Last year, it was expanded to cover senior citizens as well. However, the scheme has mostly seen funds being under-utilized.
Roads
The Narendra Modi government has opted to support growth through a push for capital expenditure. One pillar of that effort is the rapid construction of national highways. However, the pace of national highways' construction has declined from a peak of 36.5 km per day in 2020-21 to 21.3 km per day in 2024-25. That's despite the fact that the capital expenditure by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has grown significantly over the years.
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