In a social media post, the Finance Ministry shared, “Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Ms. @nsitharaman is chairing the 4th Pre-Budget Consultation with stakeholders and experts from the Export, Trade and Industry sectors regarding the upcoming Union Budget. 2025-26, in New Delhi, today.
The meeting was attended by key officials including Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Secretary Finance, Secretary Economic Affairs, Secretary DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Assets) and Chief Economic Adviser to the Government. of India
Earlier this week on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with a group of eminent economists and thought leaders on the preparation of the Union Budget 2025-26 at the NITI Aayog premises. Earlier on December 20 in Jaisalmer, Sitharaman also chaired a pre-budget meeting with finance ministers of states and union territories.
Chief Ministers of Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Odisha also participated in the meeting with Minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary. Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana. Finance Ministers of States/UTs. Secretaries of Economic Affairs and Expenditure Departments and senior officials of Finance Ministry were also present in the meeting.
Seetha Raman has so far held several meetings with various stakeholders, including MSMEs, farmers’ associations and economists. The Ministry of Finance conducts several pre-budget consultative meetings annually with experts, industrialists, economists, and state officials. The regular exercise of preparing the annual budget for the next financial year has started.
As per convention, the budget for 2025-26 will be presented on February 1, 2025. Budget 2025-26 will mark Nirmala Sitharaman’s eighth budget. All eyes will be on key announcements and economic guidance from the government for the remainder of Modi 3.0. (with ANI input)