New Delhi ( CNN ) '' India is about to take off . '' That was the bold declaration from India 's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as he delivered his first full-year budget since his party won a resounding victory at the polls last May . India 's budget is a closely-watched TV event , with pre- and post-game analyses on every TV news channel . Even by those standards , Saturday 's budget generated more interest than in previous years , in part because of soaring expectations on the new government . Jaitley signaled in his speech that `` incremental change '' was not enough , as he announced a raft of measures to boost infrastructure and growth . Among the key announcements , Jaitley promised that a widely anticipated national Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) would be implemented by April 1 , 2016 . As CNN has reported , India 's states have a myriad of different taxes , making trading between them a nightmare . A number of other announcements called for additional government spending in energy and housing . Jaitley announced an increase of $ 11.3 billion in infrastructure . He also promised a universal social security plan -- a vital need for India 's millions of poor who have no access to pensions or health care . Perhaps the biggest cheer from the stock markets -- a special trading session was held Saturday -- came when Jaitley announced a cut in the corporate tax rate from 30 % to 25 % . But it was n't all about spending . Jaitley also announced a new 2 % tax of the super rich , and promised a hefty 10 year prison sentence for people caught evading taxes . Avoiding income tax is common in India , with only 3 % of Indians filing returns . On Indian TV channels , scores of analysts began to weigh in on the impacts of the budget . Tarun Das , who ran India 's Confederation of Indian Industry for 30 years told NDTV that he could n't find a negative in Jaitley 's presentation . `` It 's a creative , confident budget , '' he said . `` There 's a lot for a lot of people . '' On the show Headlines Today , another regular commentator , Gurcharan Das , complimented the budget but said it stopped short of detail . Speaking of Jaitley 's boss , India 's Prime Minister Narendra Modi , he said `` Modi was elected to control inflation and create jobs . He 's controlled inflation , but he needs to show us how he will create jobs . '' Ahead of Saturday 's budget , India released its annual economic survey on Friday . The data produced by the government showed that India is projected to grow as fast as 8.5 % in 2016 , making it the fastest growing large economy in the world . The data was calculated according to a new methodology .
India 's budget announcement is a televised , highly watched event . This year , Indian 's paid particular attention , as they have high expectations from the Modi government .