Credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the cargo volumes in India are likely to grow 6-8 per cent in the current fiscal year (FY25) on account of healthy growth in the container and coal segments. ICRA forecasts increased spending on transportation infrastructure projects, including on roads, ports and airports over the coming years, benefiting from solid government support, rising capital outlays and a large pipeline of projects.
The report said the government has planned a large capex under its 'Maritime India Vision 2030' to augment port capacity and infrastructure over the next decade. This could bring about supply-demand mismatches in a few clusters, resulting in increased competition and pricing pressure for ports. It expects India's government to maintain a strong focus on road sector investments through increasing capital outlays.
According to the report, road execution in India is likely to grow 5-8 per cent to 12,500-13,000 km in the current fiscal, after recording a robust expansion of 20 per cent in 2023-24. It added that the pace of execution in this fiscal will be supported by a healthy pipeline of projects, increased capital outlay by the government and focus on completion of projects by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). Besides, it said capex investments in the airport infrastructure will also remain healthy at around Rs 55,000 - 60,000 crore of committed capex over the next 3-4 years, including new greenfield airports, brownfield expansions and expansion of airports under the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
