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 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.

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed trimming the government's subsidy burden and called for speeding the pace of economic reforms, which have been stalled by political gridlock, in his budget speech on Friday.

The Union Government did not take care of the interest of common man in this budget. Having lunch at restaurants, TV sets, fridges, air conditioners and air travel became costlier.

A large variety of day-to-day usage items and services will burn a hole in the common man's pocket with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposing to raise excise duty to 12 percent from 10 percent and a similar hike in service tax rate.

After facing massive poll debacle in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, the UPA Government seems to have shifted all its attention in wooing the common man. Presenting the General Budget 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has announced several hikes in the social security schemes as compared to previous budget.