The government announced a package of indirect tax cuts to breathe life into spending and investment, and trumpeted its record of growth and reform over the past decade in its last budget before an election it looks set to lose.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram arrives in Parliament to delivers his budget speech.
Mr Chidambaram presents the interim budget for fiscal year 2014-15 to cover expenditure until the government's term ends in May. The biggest highlight of Mr Chidambaram's speech was the announcement on fiscal deficit and government borrowing target for the next fiscal.
Highlights from the Finance minister's post-interim budget press conference. Mr Chidambaram says the proposed cut in excise rate will result in a loss of Rs 300 crore to Rs 400 crore, but a pick-up in sales would offset it.
Indian businessmen watching the speech were further cheered by his estimate that the fiscal deficit would shrink further to 4.1 per cent in 2014-15.
Here is a snapshot of budget outlay for different sectors.
Here is snapshot of where the budget rupee will come from and where it will go.
Mr Chidambaram sought to lighten the burden on the middle class by lowering excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers, and proposed lower tax on some other products. Here's everything else that will be cheaper.
Mr Chidambaram enhanced the allocation for defence by 10 per cent to Rs 224,000 crore in 2014-15, from Rs. 203,672 crore in the Budget Estimate 2013-14.
