As part of the process of preparing the budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has wrapped up talks with a number of stakeholders, including members of the business and social sectors.
In a statement, the Finance Ministry stated that the pre-budget discussions for the Union Budget 2024–25, which commenced on June 19 and ended on July 5, 2024, had concluded.
On July 23, Sitharaman will deliver her seventh budget. This would be the first complete budget under Modi 3.0, which aims to create a developed India by 2047, or Vikshit Bharat.
President Droupadi Murmu stated last month that the 2019 budget session will see the adoption of numerous historic measures and significant economic decisions during her speech to the joint sitting of Parliament.
“This budget will be an effective document of the government’s far-reaching policies and futuristic vision,” the President declared in her first speech to the joint sitting of Parliament since the formation of the 18th Lok Sabha.
“This budget will also see many historic steps along with major economic and social decisions,” she declared.
Throughout the in-person consultations, over 120 participants from ten different stakeholder groups were invited. These participants included experts and representatives from agriculture economists and farmer associations, trade unions, the education and health sector, employment and skilling, MSME, trade and services, industry, economists, the financial sector & capital markets, infrastructure, energy, and urban sector.
Sitharaman expressed gratitude to the participants for their insightful comments during the discussions and gave representatives and experts the assurance that their ideas would be thoroughly reviewed and taken into account when the Union Budget 2024–25 was being prepared.
The budget will probably give infrastructure expansion in sectors like defence, renewable energy, and railroads top priority due to India’s robust GDP growth.
It is widely anticipated that the income tax standard deduction will rise, providing salaried people with some respite.
If the government decides to keep the current tax system with deductions or to encourage people to switch to the new one, it may be made clear in the budget.
To boost the real estate industry, policies like raising the interest rate subsidies for home loans could be introduced.
