They said that massive public investment in infrastructure, social sectors and agriculture would generate employment and the Union Budget should give it a priority and allocate necessary funds for this.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
India is only on the starting block.
It would be interesting to see what the government proposes to investors.
In a Q&A with Doordarshan, Jaitley discusses how he chose the areas on which he would spend more.
'If private capex has to kick in, there should at least be 2-3 years of visibility.'
The government is not in a "crazy rush" to sell everything and it will continue to have a presence in four strategic sectors, including telecom, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. In strategic sectors, a bare minimum presence of the existing public sector commercial enterprises at the holding company level will be retained under government control. The remaining enterprises in a strategic sector will be considered for privatisation or merger with another PSE or for closure.
In the past decade, about Rs 45,000 crore has been returned, either because it was unused or since the government needed the money to balance its books.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
Given the incredibly high stakes involved, the Comptroller and Auditor General and Central Vigilance Commission should examine relevant facts and find out if capex was overstated, Anil said, pointing that budgeted expenditure of RIL for peak production of 40 mmscmd was only Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion) in 2004.
This is the BJP's first full-year Budget.
Perhaps the finance ministry or NITI Aayog could take a detailed look at what governments actually deliver and at what cost; how their services can be improved and expanded where necessary; how much money can be saved through doing things differently; and how many things the government does which it can safely leave to the private sector, argues T N Ninan.
'Rhetoric and chest-thumping are running high on India's recent growth record.'
'But will the giant waves developing elsewhere allow us to sail smoothly into fair winds?' asks Debashis Basu.
After bumbling for years since 2014, the Modi government seems to believe that massive government expenditure will lead us to prosperity supported by 'seat-of-the-pants' decision-making, observes Debashis Basu.
India spent USD 63.9 billion on its military in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with 2016 and of 45 per cent since 2008.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in the United States for a three-day state visit, has gifted an eco-friendly lab-grown 7.5 carat diamond, placed in Kashmir's exquisite Papier mache box, to First Lady Jill Biden.
Modi said whenever Congress came back, all development works came to a standstill.
Currently women are allowed in a number of select areas including in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the army.
Kavaratti will be commissioned before end-2019 -- three years later than contracted.
As soon as Lok Sabha assembled, opposition members stormed into the well holding placards and shouting slogans. They demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group.
Finance minister tries to put house in order before reforms are unveiled in February.
In a relief to industry, the government has accepted a parliamentary panel's recommendation on allowing cartels to opt for the settlement scheme under the Competition Amendment Bill, according to official sources. The proposed Bill seeks to introduce a clause for settlement and commitment that offers any enterprise against which an inquiry has been initiated to file an application for settlement. The Parliamentary Committee on Finance had suggested including cartels in the scope for settlement "as a pragmatic recourse to the whole process".
The experts also said China's military 'misadventure' may have been driven in part by President Xi Jinping's attempt to show 'gains somewhere" after the growing global criticism against his country over the origin of COVID-19.
Capex for next year expected to be up 25% to Rs 3 lakh crore
The captains of Indian industry described Narendra Modi government's maiden budget as one with "the right intent and in the right direction".
The Budget will indicate where the Modi government stands on reforms, growth and development.
New Delhi's regional partners in restraining a belligerent China -- primarily the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore -- would like the Indian Navy to lock down the Indian Ocean Region, while the other partners can focus on deterring the PLA (navy) in the South China Sea, explains Ajai Shukla.
Gandhi said the prime minister did not answer the questions he had posed to him.
The Tejas Mark 1A outperforms the Sino-Pakistan JF-17 Thunder in avionics and weaponry, but the finance ministry's tax burden makes the Indian LCA costlier and hurts it in the export market.
As the United States focuses on the Indo-Pacific, in particular the Quad, the Biden administration needs to address India's ties with Russia and its 'downward trend of democratic values and institutions', said a report by the Democratic Party of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
The industry's reactions to the Budget have been mixed.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Citing China's example, he said a powerful military will enhance India's strategic clout.
A weaker Russia, a sobered China at a time when Xi Jinping is manoeuvring to protect his third term prospects, a reunited West, a chaotic Pakistan. This is a perfect set of strategic circumstances. It is for India now to consummate this historic opportunity, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Most expect the Budget to be path-breaking.
This will encompass the sale of Air India, a number of other privatisation initiatives, mergers, initial public offerings, the Centre's two exchange-traded funds, buybacks and offers-for-sale, and even monetisation of land assets.
NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance software company, has been under increasing attack following allegations that its Pegasus phone spyware was used for surveillance on journalists, activists and political leaders in several countries including India. NSO has denied any wrongdoing.
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