People across the country and from all walks of life,including the common man on the street and captains of industry are keenly watching the presentation of the general budget for fiscal 2015-16 by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
In Mumbai, people from all walks of life stood outside the Bombay Stock Exchange to watch the live presentation of the budget on a huge screen. A majority of them had anxious looks on their faces.
Similar scenes were witnessed in Nagpur, Maharashtra and in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, financial experts were clued onto to their television screens to watch the proceedings in Parliament.
In Chennai, captains of industry were being hosted by the local chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to watch the presentation of the general budget for fiscal 2015-16 by Jaitley.
It is expected that they will give their reactions once the presentation of the budget is completed.
Special prayers were held in a 'gurudwara' in Lucknow and a 'hawan' was conducted in Kanpur on Saturday, marking the massive expectations from the Modi government's Union Budget for fiscal 2015-16.
"Our prayer is that inflation should come down and the common man must be able to eat and live easily and get his kids educated," said Harvinder Singh, one of those who prayed at the Gurudwara.
Meanwhile, people in Kanpur said they had organised the 'hawan' so that the Budget proves to be positive for the common man.
"We are organising this so that the Budget proves to be for the common man and there should be no increase in inflation," said one of the participants of the 'hawan'.
"We are expecting the good days that were promised to us. We are hoping they work to provide relief to the common man," added another participant.
Market experts across the board are looking forward to a common man friendly Budget today, which also heralds a road map for growth and reform.
"Expectations are huge and high as far as the common Indian is concerned. Because common Indian is not happy as far as the finances are concerned, for the past three-four years. The common man's expenditure has been rising for the past three-four years whereas his income growth has not been able to keep pace with the rising expenditure. So, he has lots of expectations," Akash Jindal, a market expert told ANI.
He added that the Economic Survey and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech yesterday clearly showed that the government wanted to pursue the growth and reform path.
"If we see the Economic Survey of yesterday, and the fraction figures that it has given, the direction of the government which we can make out from the Economic Survey, and the good speech that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given yesterday, I think the government clearly wants to pursue the growth and reform path, which the government is already on," he added.
"I expect the income tax limit would be raised from two lakh 50 thousand to three lakh. The government is also having a lot of focus on housing. Housing refinance interest component portion, the exemption limit may be raised from two lakhs to three lakhs," Jindal added.
Meanwhile, Alok Churiwala, Vice-President of BSE Broker Forum said "A lot of expectation is there. From common people to industrialist everyone has expectation on this budget. The government got around 7-8 months time to bring out a good reform."
Other market expert, A.P. Shukla, hopes the Finance Minister will fulfill the maximum expectations of the common man.
"I think the Finance Minister will fulfill the maximum expectations of the common man. It seems like the government would make the 'Make in India' a successful one. Taxation is expected to cut down. People wish that the finance minister will put more money in their pocket," said Shukla.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present his first full-year Budget in Parliament at 11 am today, seeking to put the country on a path of 7-8 percent growth over the next two years.
The 2015-16 Budget is being billed as a "make-or-break" event for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's eight-month-old government.
