Key indices regained strength as interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that India is poised to become largest global economy. At 12:21 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 195.09 points or 0.54% at 36,451.78. The Nifty 50 index was up 43.95 points or 0.41% at 10,874.90.

Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that India is poised to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years and become a 10 trillion dollar economy in the next eight years. Piyush Goyal said that the fiscal deficit has been brought down to 3.4% in the revised estimate of 2018-19. The government had set a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP in February 2018. Piyush Goyal increased the budgetary allocation for India's flagship rural employment scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme. The scheme will get Rs 60000 crore as against Rs 55000 crore rupees promised in the last Budget.

For welfare of farmers and for doubling their income, historic decision taken to increase MSP by 1.5 times the production cost for all 22 crops, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said. He also announced a steady income support to help farmers in view of depleting income from agriculture.

The interim budget is the last one presented by the current NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi, before the 2019 general elections in April. The Budget session of Parliament began yesterday. The session will conclude on 13th of next month.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.5%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.51%.

Shares of defence equipment companies rose after the government allocated Rs 3 lakh crore for defence budget. Additional funds will be provided if needed for border security, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in the interim budget 2019-20.

Bharat Electronics (up 2.03%), BEML (up 1.81%), Reliance Naval and Engineering (up 1.06%), Larsen & Toubro (up 0.99%), Bharat Forge (up 0.46%) edged higher.

Shares of companies whose business is linked with the agriculture sector rose after Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the interim budget 2019-20 laid emphasis on agriculture and farmers.

Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.39%), Aries Agro (up 3.86%), Shakti Pumps (India) (up 1.61%), Dhanuka Agritech (up 3.27%), Kaveri Seed Company (up 1.87%), Godrej Agrovet (up 1.24%) and Monsanto India (up 0.39%) edged higher.

The central government will spend Rs 75,000 crore per year on the farm income support plan scheme, Piyush Goyal said in the interim budget. Called the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, the scheme will provide farmers with land up to two hectares Rs 6,000 annually in direct annual support.