Modi to unveil reform agenda in maiden budget

India's new government, led by right-winger Narendra Modi, on Thursday unveils its maiden budget -- its first big policy statement on how it intends to overhaul an economy saddled with slow growth and weak public finances. Although Modi’s government will likely fail to shrink a yawning fiscal deficit and faces rising inflation, the mood of investors and voters remains buoyant as they look for detail on his long-term vision. Modi, who swept to power with the strongest mandate in 30 years in May, ‘is a free-enterprise person and this (budget) is his moment to show what he intends,’ DH Pai Panandiker, head of economic think-tank the RPG Foundation, has said, according to AFP.