PM Modi to Hold Pre-Budget Meeting with Economists & Experts at NITI Aayog on Friday

Pre-Budget meetings are crucial because they make sure that capital and cash flow are satisfactory and that the government is working to maintain the best financial oversight possible.

The Budget for 2023-24 is scheduled to be presented to Parliament on February 1. According to a senior government official, several Union ministers will also attend the meeting.

Due to weakening demand, the Indian economy is expected to grow at a slower rate of 7% in the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2023, setting the stage for the country to lose its title as the fastest-growing major economy.

The first official estimate released by the statistics ministry forecasts a 7% increase, compared to an 8.7% increase in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021-22.

The projections are lower than the government's previous forecast of 8-8.5 percent growth but higher than the Reserve Bank's forecast of 6.8 percent.

If the forecast is correct, India's GDP growth will be less than Saudi Arabia's 7.6 percent expansion.

The Union budget is likely to suggest an industrial area development scheme geared toward micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, with funds to not only expand and upgrade existing industrial areas with shared infrastructure but also to develop new industrial areas.

The emphasis on MSMEs comes as these businesses face high inflation and input costs, as well as a slowdown in exports and the prospect of a global recession.