At Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan today, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presided over pre-Budget consultations with finance ministers from all states and union territories for the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23. Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Karad, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary TV Somanathan, Department of Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda, and other Finance Ministry officials were also present at the meeting.
This isn’t the first time Sitharaman has presided over pre-Budget meetings. During the weeks of December 15-22, almost 120 representatives from seven stakeholder organizations attended eight meetings. Agriculture and agro-processing industry, industry, infrastructure, and climate change, financial sector and capital markets, services and commerce, social sector, trade union, and labor organization, and economists were among those who met with the Finance Minister.
Increased R&D funding, infrastructure status for digital services, income tax slab rationalization, investments in online safety measures, incentives for hydrogen storage and fuel cell development, and other ideas were made by these stakeholders. Participants also praised government efforts to keep India’s standing as the world’s fastest developing major economy by managing the economy efficiently amid the pandemic.
Budget 2022-23 will be the fourth of the Modi 2.0 government’s four budgets, and it will be presented against the backdrop of the Indian economy’s steady recovery following the coronavirus outbreak. Budget 2022-23 could be delivered on February 1st, in the first half of the Parliament’s Budget session, which generally starts in late January.
