Pre-Budget Consultation Meetings for Union Budget 2024-25 Conclude in New Delhi

The Pre-Budget consultations for Union Budget 2024-25 which started on June 19, concluded on July 5. The meetings were chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During the usual consultations, more than 120 invitees from 10 stakeholder groups including experts and representatives from farmer associations, trade unions, education and health sector, MSME, trade and services as well as infrastructure, energy and urban sectors participated.

The Ministry of Finance said in a statement that Sitharaman expressed gratitude to the participants for sharing valuable suggestions and assured them that their suggestions would be carefully examined and considered while preparing the Union Budget.

The budget 2024 is set to be presented in parliament on July 23. This will be the first full budget of Modi 3.0 which is going to set the path for Vikshit Bharat (developed India) by 2047.

According to an official release, Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser, T.V. Somanathan, Finance Secretary, and other secretaries of finance ministry departments, including Ajay Seth, Tuhin Pandey, Vivek Joshi and Sanjay Malhotra were among those present at the consultations.

The release said that the finance minister will carefully examine and consider suggestions while preparing the Union Budget 2024-25. During the consulations, farmers' associations and agricultural economists urged the government to cut taxes on farm equipment and increase allocations for agricultural research and development. They sought increased allocations to strengthen the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), a government export-trade promotion body.

Leaders of trade and services businesses appealed to the finance minister to improve the ease of doing business for the service sector, make the transfer pricing regime more competitive, tighten tariffs placed on Chinese goods, and develop an Indian shipping line of global repute. In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament last month, President Droupadi Murmu said that many historic steps and major economic decisions will be taken in the upcoming budget session.

This budget will be an effective document of the government's far-reaching policies and futuristic vision, the President said in her first address to the joint sitting of Parliament since the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha.