India, Feb. 2 -- Since the pandemic surge in government expenditure, successive budgets over the last five years have been carefully tapering government expenditure. Total expenditure, as a percentage of GDP, fell from 17.73 in the peak pandemic year of 2020-21 to 14.19 in 2024-25, before settling at 13.9 in the current financial year (2025-26, Revised Estimate). This trend will continue into the next financial year (2026-27), as expenditure is projected to decline further to 13.61.

The policy choice the government made in the immediate post-pandemic era was to stimulate the economy through enhanced capital expenditure. Inevitably, therefore, the axe has fallen on revenue expenditure, through which the government of India's social sector...