New Delhi. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has completed consultations with various stakeholders, including representatives of the industry and social sector, as part of the budget preparation process. Sitharaman will present her seventh budget on July 23. This will be the first full budget of the Narendra Modi 3.0 government. This budget will pave the way for a ‘developed India’ by 2047.
Last month, President Draupadi Murmu, while addressing the joint session of Parliament, had said that many historic steps and big economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget session. In her first address to the joint session of Parliament after the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha, the President had said, “This budget will be an effective document of the far-reaching policies and forward-looking vision of the government.” She had said that along with big economic and social decisions, many historic steps will also be seen in this budget.
The pre-budget consultation for the General Budget 2024-25 began on June 19 and ended on July 5, 2024, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.
More than 120 people from 10 stakeholder groups participated in the consultations. These included experts and representatives from trade organizations, education and health sector, employment and skills, micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), trade and services, industry, financial sector and capital markets and infrastructure, energy and urban sector, apart from farmer associations and agricultural economists.
These meetings, chaired by the Finance Minister, were attended by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary, Finance Secretary and Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin K Pandey, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi and Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra, among others.