Indian government unveils budget for this fiscal year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will present its budget for this fiscal year on Thursday as India posted its slowest growth in three years in 2017/18.

The slowdown was partly a consequence of the chaotic rollout of a nationwide goods and service tax (GST) last year and a shock move to take high value currency notes out of circulation in late 2016.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday gave final touches to the 2018/19 federal budget in New Delhi. This will be the last full federal budget of his tenure as he seeks to strike a balance amid a widening fiscal deficit.

"A series of major reforms undertaken over the past year will allow real GDP growth to reach 6.75 percent this fiscal (year) and will rise to 7.0 to 7.5 percent in 2018/19, thereby reinstating India as the world's fastest growing major economy," said the government's economic survey, an annual report the health of the economy.

"Most of the discussion, debate is focused around the physical infrastructure, but the social infrastructure is equally important if we have to attain a sustained level of growth," said Devendra Pant, Chief Economist of India Ratings.

The federal budget is expected to step up funding of rural development programmes and help small businesses as Prime Minister Modi's nationalist government heads into a national election in May 2019.

TRT World's Radhika Bajaj reports.