Budget 2018 Preview: Before 2019 polls, govt aim to woo rural voters

Amid voter discontent over lack of jobs, Modi says India on track to become $5-trn economy by 2025; big splurge unlikely because of fiscal pressure

India's government will be trying to woo back rural voters and small businesses when it announces the Union budget 2018-19 on Thursday and pick up economic momentum as it heads into a season of elections, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extolling India as a model of economic growth and political openness, told the World Economic Forum in Davos last week the country would be a $5 trillion economy by 2025, more than double its current size.

But at home, Modi is facing voter discontent over falling farm incomes and the lack of jobs for hundreds of thousands of youth