Finance minister concludes consultations, budget to be presented on July 23

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has completed consultations with various stakeholders including representatives from industry and social sectors as part of the preparation of the budget. The minister will present his seventh budget on July 23. This is the first full budget of Modi 3.0, which will pave the way for Vision Bharat (Developed India) by 2047.

Last month, President Draupadi Murmu, while addressing a joint session of Parliament, had said that the upcoming budget session would take several historic measures and major economic decisions. Addressing a joint session of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, the President said, "This Budget will be an effective document of the government's far-reaching policies and future vision". She said that along with important economic and social decisions, many historic measures will be seen in this budget.

The pre-budget consultations for the Union Budget 2024-25, which started from June 19, ended on July 5, 2024, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. During the face-to-face consultations, more than 120 invitees across 10 stakeholder groups including experts, representatives from farmer organizations and agricultural economists; trade unions; education and health sector; Employment & Skills; MSME; Trade & Services; industry; Economists; Financial Sector and Capital Markets; Infrastructure, Energy and Urban Sector also participated in the meetings.

These meetings were chaired by the Finance Minister and included the participation of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary; Finance Secretary and Expenditure Secretary, TV Somanathan; Financial Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin K Pandey, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi and Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra were also present.

Nirmala Sitharaman thanked the participants in the consultations for sharing their valuable suggestions and assured the experts and representatives that their suggestions will be carefully considered and considered while preparing the Union Budget 2024-25.