FM to hold pre-Budget talks this week

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold consultations with apex industry chambers, farmers’ associations and state finance ministers in the run-up to the full budget for 2024-25 that is expected to be presented in late July. While the meeting with India Inc. is expected to be held on Thursday, the consultations with farmers’ associations and economists are likely to take place on Friday.

The Finance Minister will also hold a meeting with the finance ministers of states for consultations on the budget when they arrive in New Delhi for the GST Council meeting on Saturday.

The Union government administers 108 Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) through state and UT governments, with a budget of approximately Rs 5.01 lakh crore for FY 2024-25 and Rs 4.76 lakh crore for FY 2023-24. Discussions with the state finance ministers are expected to centre around expediting the implementation of these schemes. According to senior officials, a lot of spadework for the budget has already been done as part of the 100-day agenda of the government which will be incorporated in the budget.Discussions across wider sections of industry and farm bodies will enable the government to get a broader view of issues that need to be taken on board.

The budget is expected to give priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas with special emphasis on empowering women’s self-help groups (SHGs) with schemes such as the creation of LakhpatiDidis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modihas sent a clear message of continuity in the government’s economic policy with the reappointment of Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister.