-Livemint.com The budget to be presented on 1 February may be the last full budget of the Narendra Modi government unless it uses the opportunity to revive the economy The budget to be presented on 1 February will be the last full budget of this government. The budget in 2019 will only be a vote-on-account. But whether this will be the last full budget of the Narendra Modi government will depend on...

-Business Today Social sector spending and investments in infrastructure development could be the highlights of the forthcoming Union Budget 2018-19, credit rating agency ICRA forecasts. It expects increase in budgetary allocations for social infrastructure and social security spending, such as NREGA (rural job security), food subsidy (food security), insurance schemes and welfare pensions. Larger allocations for infrastructure related to cold chains, etc., considered to boost the agricultural sector and the rural...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The upcoming Budget poses a big challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are too many demands on the Budget while the government is expected to stick to its fiscal deficit targets. Traditionally, Modi's Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has been seen to rely on middle-class voters—urban workers and small traders. But Modi's rise to power was fuelled equally by rural voters. Budget 2018-19 being the last full...

-The Economic Times After Gujarat returned the ruling BJP with a slim margin, the chorus of the establishment was "jo jeeta wohi sikandar" (He who wins is the king). It seemed apt, considering that the party retained Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, bunking anti-incumbency of 22 years. But opposition wags responded with "jo sikha wohi sikandar", he who learns will be king, in 2019, in the next general elections. Rural Gujarat,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Sangh parivar affiliates Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh have urged the government to address joblessness and agrarian distress in the budget, sounding an alert before the 2019 general election campaign. The Manch, the Sangh's economic wing, has suggested the government shift focus and provide incentives to indigenous small-scale industries to generate more jobs. Farmer arm Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has advocated measures to make agricultural remunerative and demanded...