Union foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding additional charge of the finance portfolio, presented the Interim Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Despite the global financial crisis, which began in 2007 impacting most emerging market economies, 7.1 per cent rate of GDP growth in the current year makes India the second fastest growing economy in the world.

The fallout of global slowdown on Indian economy were countered with fiscal stimulus packages announced in December 2008 and January 2009 providing tax relief to boost demand and increasing expenditure on public projects.

The government has accorded approval to 37 infrastructure projects worth Rs. 70,000 crore (Rs 700 billion) from August 2008 to January 2009 alone, said Mukherjee.

He further stated that under the Public Private Partnership mode, 54 central sector infrastructure projects with a project cost of Rs. 67,700 crore (Rs 677 billion) were given in principal or final approval and 23 projects amounting to Rs 27,900 crore (Rs 279 billion) approved for viability gap funding in 2008-09.

A record $32.4 billion FDI received in 2007-08 and notwithstanding financial uncertainty and slowdown, FDI inflows during April-December 2008 were $23.3 billion recording a growth of 45 per cent over the same period in 2007.

Source: PIB