Refusing to speculate on what Finance Minister P Chidambaram would do in his forthcoming budget to boost sagging economy, Plan panel deputy chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia said it would be a good one.

Parliament on Thursday passed the Rail Budget 2012-13 after the government announced a roll back of hike in passenger fares for all classes except AC 2 Tier and First Class.

Trinamool Congress member Derek O'Brien on Thursday dubbed as absurd former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi's argument that fares were being raised to enhance safety and said it appeared to be "gimmickry".

Faced with criticism that his Budget was a lost opportunity, a candid Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said he was "extra-careful" because of political compulsions in Parliament, even as he stressed the problem of rising fuel subsidies has to be tackled head-on.

The Budget is a positive for the civil aviation industry, particularly for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector, say experts.

The budget proposals have met with mixed response with some analysts terming it as realistic and positive for capital markets and others expressing concerns over lack of fiscal consolidation roadmap.

The industrialists of Punjab are disgruntled with the Union Budget-2012 presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Expressing disappointment with the Union Budget 2012-13, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee of ignoring the interests of Bihar in the budget and termed it ‘useless’ and a ‘lame duck’.

The Industrial sector which was keeping fingers crossed and expecting more from this General Budget, which was tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday, had to face some harsh realities.

Dinesh Trivedi episode forced Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to present balanced budget in the Parliament on Friday. Mukherjee did not take risk in his budget given the poor showing of the Congress in the recently concluded assembly polls in five states.