Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a meeting with eminent economists and regional experts at NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Tuesday. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Berry, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister PK Mishra and others were also seen. | Photo Credit: ANI
Job creation, improving agricultural productivity, and mobilizing public funds for infrastructure development were some of the issues that came up during interactions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and economists ahead of the 2025-26 Union Budget.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) met eminent economists and field experts at the NITI Aayog to hear their views and suggestions for the upcoming budget.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2025.
According to an official statement, PM Modi emphasized that a developed India can be achieved through a fundamental change in mindset, which focuses on making India a developed country by 2047.
Participants shared their views on various topics, including navigating the challenges posed by global economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, strategies to increase employment, especially among the youth, and creating sustainable employment opportunities in various sectors.
It was also suggested to combine education and training programs with the evolving needs of the job market to increase agricultural productivity and create sustainable rural employment opportunities, attract private investment and mobilize public funds for infrastructure projects to increase economic growth.
The statement also suggested promoting financial inclusion, promoting exports and attracting foreign investment.
In the interaction Surjit S. Bhalla, Ashok Gulati, Sudipto Mundle, Dharmakirti Joshi, Janmejay Sinha, Madan Sabnavis, Amita Batra, Ridham Desai, Chetan Ghate, Bharat Ramaswamy, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Siddharthi Sannyal, B. Rajni Sinha, Keshav Das, Pritam Banerjee, Rahul Bajoria, Nikhil Gupta and Shashwat Alok, the statement added.
The meeting was held in the background of concerns about the decline in economic growth.
The Indian economy grew by 6.7 percent in the June quarter and 5.4 percent in the July-September period.
Recently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) cut India’s economic growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 6.5 percent from an earlier estimate of 7 percent due to lower-than-expected growth in private investment and housing demand.
The Multilateral Development Bank has also lowered India’s growth forecast for the fiscal year 2025-26.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India also cut its growth forecast for the current financial year to 6.6 percent from 7.2 percent earlier.
Next year’s budget will also be watched for any preemptive measures the government may take in response to a possible increase in US tariffs after US President-elect Donald Trump last week threatened to impose more tariffs on India and reciprocate tariffs.
published – December 25, 2024 at 07:49 pm IST