Why India is in desperate need to up infra spending

India will increase public spending on infrastructure, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday.

The government estimates the country needs to spend $800 billion on infrastructure to grow 7 per cent per annum, sharply higher than around 5.5 per cent projected by the Reserve Bank of India for the current fiscal year that ends in March.

Concerned over slow economic growth, some government aides are also pushing to row back on fiscal deficit targets when Jaitley announces the 2015/16 budget next month.

They have advocated more spending on infrastructure projects that could lift growth.