India unveils budget for growth

'India is about to take off,' finance minister says, as he announces plans to slow pace of cutting deficit and to boost investment

The Indian finance minister, Arun Jaitley, has announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit.

Jaitley, delivering his first full-year budget since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide election victory last May, said growth would accelerate to between 8 and 8.5% in the fiscal year starting in April.