Fiscal stress a reality, focus to stay on capex: Expenditure Secretary | Business News
3 min readNew DelhiMay 2, 2026 05:28 AM IST Fiscal stress is “very much a reality” and there could be lots of stress points going ahead amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, but the government is focused on spending on priority sectors and capital expenditure, which will continue to be at the budgeted level of Rs 12.2 lakh crore, Expenditure Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said on Friday. Stating that the LPG crisis has been a “challenging situation” with India importing about 60% of its requirement, of which 90% comes through Strait of Hormuz that has been impacted by the disturbance, Vualnam said the government has been proactive in tackling these situations. However, there are also “systemic constraints” where one cannot really tackle off or wipe away all the impacts which are there, the Secretary said. For instance, beyond LPG, the cut in excise duties will also have a fiscal impact, he said. “So, the fiscal stress is indeed very much a reality. But at the same time, the priority sectors, for example, the capex could really …
