The Narendra Modi government poured extra money into support for farmers and a rural jobs programme, delivering on Friday its last budget before a general election due by May.
The interim budget for 2019/20 allocated Rs 60,000 crore for a rural jobs programme MNREGA and Rs 19,000 crore for building of roads in the countryside where two-thirds of Indians live.
The fiscal deficit in 2018/19 would be 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), slightly higher than the targeted 3.3