Ahead of Budget, PM Narendra Modi meets experts on economic growth, job generation

New Delhi, July 11

With the Union Budget less than a fortnight away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with top economists and sectoral experts in Niti Aayog to discuss the financial roadmap for the future, with focus mainly on job creation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also present at the meeting, where the blueprint for Viksit Bharat and capital expenditure also came up for discussion, sources said.

Eminent economists urged the government to take steps to accelerate economic growth and improve infrastructure, sources said.

The meeting was organised by the NITI Aayog on Thursday to elicit views and suggestions of economists for the first budget of the Modi 3.0 government.

“Earlier today, interacted with eminent economists and heard their insightful views on issues pertaining to furthering growth,” Modi said in a post on X.

Among the experts and economists present in the meeting were economist Surjit Bhalla, veteran economic journalist AK Bhattacharya, Ashok Gulati, Gaurabh Ballabh, Amita Batra, Mahendra Dev and banker KV Kamath, among others.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha on July 23. Besides economists and sectoral experts, the meeting was also attended by Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery and other members.

This will be the first major economic document of the Modi 3.0 government, which, among other things, is expected to lay the road map for making India a developed nation by 2047.

President Droupadi Murmu, in her address to the joint sitting of Parliament last month, had indicated that the government would come out with historic steps to accelerate the pace of reforms.

She also said the Budget will be an effective document of the government’s far-reaching policies and futuristic vision. Sitharaman has already held discussions with various stakeholders, including economists and captains of Indian industry, on the forthcoming Budget.

Several experts have urged the government to provide tax relief to the common man to boost consumption and take steps to check inflation and accelerate economic growth. The economy has recorded a growth rate of 8.2 per cent in 2023-24. Earlier in February, Sitharaman presented an interim Budget for 2024-25 in view of the Lok Sabha elections. /PTI