Budget 2015: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Delays Fiscal Roadmap to Boost Growth

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is presenting the government's first full-year budget, seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stomach for free-market economics. It has been billed as a make-or-break budget for the government.

1) "The Credibility of Indian economy has been re-established. The world is predicting it is India's time to fly," the Finance Minister said as he began his speech, asserting, "We have turned around the economy."

2) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will target a 3.9 per cent fiscal deficit for year starting April 1, 2015 to make room for higher investment in infra and capital expenditure.

3) The government plans to spend Rs 1.25 lakh crore for investment out of which Rs 70,000 crore will come from budgetary outlay, Mr Jaitley said, also promising, "We will achieve 3 per cent fiscal deficit target in two years rather than three years."

4) The Finance Minister said the real GDP growth is expected to be 7.4% making India the fastest growing economy in the world. "Ours is the second-best performing stock market in developing economies," he noted.

5) India's economy, he said, is expected to grow between 8-8.5 per cent in the fiscal year that starts April 1, 2015. "Aiming for a double-digit growth seems feasible very soon," Mr Jaitley said.

6) We have been able to conquer inflation; our objective is to keep inflation below 6 percent, Mr Jaitley said.

7) Emphasising the Modi government's commitment to ease of doing business in the country, Mr Jaitley said the government would set up pre-existing regulatory policies instead of the need for prior permissions.

8) States, the finance minister said, are more economically empowered than ever before. "We have embraced states as equal partners in economic growth," he said.

9) He listed flagship projects of the Narendra Modi government as major achievements - the success of the Jan Dhan Yojana and the Swachh Bharat or clean India mission - and efforts to create a rejuvenated India.

10) On Saturday morning, the BSE Sensex jumped over 250 points in morning trade. It is now trading at 29,350.