The BSE Sensex is expected to open higher on Tuesday, tracking firm Asian equities, and after the finance minister said he expects the economy to grow by nearly 9 percent in the next fiscal year.

Pranab Mukherjee also raised the foreign investment limit in corporate infrastructure bonds by $20 billion, and announced the creation of infrastructure debt funds in the annual budget presented to parliament on Monday.

Despite the absence of key reforms in the 2011/12 budget, there is optimism for fair growth.

People will get to digest the budget fully today, Arun Kejriwal, director of research firm KRIS, said. The Sensex should open in the positive, he said.

India's economy grew a slower-than-expected 8.2 percent in the October to December quarter from a year earlier, government data on Monday showed. Asia's third-largest economy is on track to expand 8.6 percent in the current fiscal year.

Automakers including leading carmaker Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and No. 1 utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra will be on the radar as they report February sales numbers.

The MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was up 0.64 percent by 0258 GMT, while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.69 percent.

The Nifty India stock futures in Singapore was up 0.7 percent.

On Monday, the benchmark 30-share BSE index, or Sensex, ended up 0.69 percent at 17,823.40 points. It had climbed as much as 3.4 percent at one stage.

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