New Delhi, Feb. 2 -- The macroeconomic numbers for India's economy would be the envy of others. Quarterly growth has been showing steady upward momentum and inflation is ruling at remarkably low levels. The corporate sector's balance sheet is healthy, having deleveraged substantially, and profitability has been quite good for the past several years. The banking sector too has been showing good profits and very low bad-loan ratios.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who created a record by presenting her ninth consecutive budget to Parliament, chose not to be too complacent about the apparent 'Goldilocks' type macroeconomic situation India is experiencing.

That's because behind that growth momentum is a strong capital-expenditure push ...