NEW DELHI: India hiked the country`s defence budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year to Rs1,644.15 billion as announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday .
Presenting the April-March fiscal year budget in the Lok Sabha, Mr Mukherjee said the new defence outlay would mark an increase from the 2010-11 allocation of Rs1473.44 billion
.However, many of Mr Mukherjee`s budget proposals would have to lean on a good monsoon. The finance minister invoked the gods while presenting the budget, appealing to Indra, the god of rains, and Saraswati, the goddess of learning, to ease his task.In his general budget, Mr Mukherjee revealed no major policy shifts, but said the much-watched fiscal deficit would fall from an estimated 5.1 per cent of the gross domestic product in the year ending March 31to 4.6 per cent next fiscal year.
He said his budget proposals address the problem of high inflation and give a push to economic reforms.
Some analysts found economic goals optimistic, especially given high global oil prices. India imports the bulk of its oil.
The government expects the economy to grow as much as 9.25 per cent next fiscal year, up from 8.6 per cent in the year ending March 31 even as policymakers worry that the benefits of India`s rapid growth aren`t spread widely enough.
Analysts said medical bills were expected to increase by 5 per cent as the budget had levied service tax on hospital and diagnostic service providers. Pharmaceutical sector has expressed relief over continuation of concessions on excise duty provided during the global economic meltdown.
Through the budget proposals, Mr Mukherjee added, he also tried to signal reforms without making any dramatic announcements.
