Nirmala Sitharaman chairs first pre-Budget consultation meet ahead of Budget 2024-25

The Union Budget 2024-25 will most likely be presented in the second half of July

Union minister for finance & corporate affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday chaired the first pre-Budget consultations with leading economists in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2024-25 in New Delhi.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday chaired the first pre-Budget consultations

The meeting also saw the presence of Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, the finance secretary, secretaries of the departments of economic affairs, revenue, financial services and corporate affairs and the chief economic adviser.

"We have held the first pre-budget meeting. Top economists from across the nation attended the meeting and gave their suggestions about the budget," economist Ashwani Mahajan told news agency PTI after attending a meeting with Sitharaman.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the Union Budget 2024-25 will most likely be presented in the second half of July, expected in the last week of the month. The finance minister is likely to hold a pre-budget consultations with industry chambers on June 20.

Union Budget 2024-25 will be Sitharaman's seventh budget presentation in a row. She is on the verge of creating history as she will surpass former finance minister Morarji Desai's record of presenting the budget six consecutive times. She already has the honour of being the only woman finance minister to serve two terms consecutively.

The Union Budget 2024-25 is likely to lay out the Modi government's economic agenda. Making India a USD 5-trillion economy in the near future and developing the country into a 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047 are two of the important ambitions envisaged by Narendra Modi before he secured the mandate for a third consecutive term as the prime minister.

Some of the key economic policy decisions by Modi 3.0 government would aim to deal with stress in the agriculture sector, job creation, sustaining capex momentum, and pushing revenue growth to stay on the fiscal consolidation path.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has estimated that the Indian economy will grow 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal on the back of improving rural demand and moderating inflation.