Budget 2025: FinMin urges stakeholders in various sectors to prioritise key issues
New Delhi: As Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to table the Union Budget 2025 on February 1, expectations from across all sectors have started pouring in. Ms Sitharaman on Wednesday urged all stakeholders in various sectors to prioritise key issues, including investments, tax simplification, and startup growth among others. In the Modi 3.0 budget presentation, the finance minister will announce her budget in Lok Sabha on Saturday (February 1), when the stock exchanges will also remain open on the day for trading on account of the Union Budget.
The finance minister recently completed pre-Budget consultations with various stakeholders of industries, economists, experts in the financial sector and markets and others to understand their grievances, recommendations and expectations from the upcoming Budget. She finished her month-long consultations with industry and sectoral stakeholders that started on December 6, 2024. In the final leg of her pre-budget meeting, she also met all the representatives of microfinance sector on Wednesday and acknowledged their views and suggestions on the forthcoming budget as well.
“...In the course of the in-person consultations, more than 100 invitees across 9 stakeholder groups, including experts and representatives from farmer associations & agriculture economists; trade unions; education & health sector; MSME; trade & services; industry; economists; financial sector & capital markets; as well as, infrastructure, energy and urban sector, participated in the meetings,” said a finance ministry statement.
With pouring demands from across almost all the sectors and commonman, on the one hand India Inc is scrambling to extract as much relief from finance minister as possible before the Union Budget 2025, while on the other hand the government itself has admitted officially that its economy or gross domestic product or GDP growth rate for FY2024-25 would come down to 6.4 per cent of the GDP from 8.2 per cent in the FY2023-24. No doubt, it's an uphill task that the government is facing before the Union Budget 2025.
As India is ready to have its Budget for year 2025-26, the healthcare sector is a focal point of debate and expectation. With the country’s health challenges in the spotlight, all eyes are now on FM Sitharaman, as stakeholders pin their hopes on her leadership to deliver the much-needed reforms. Experts across the country are voicing their demands, hoping that the upcoming fiscal plan will address pressing issues like funding, infrastructure, and accessibility.
Among a host of issues before the budget, income tax relief is one of the key announcements that most are looking forward to, besides the demand for tax holidays and GST exemption by a host of industries. The insurance sector, meanwhile, is calling for key reforms aimed at improving penetration of health insurance and making it more affordable. Industry leaders are pushing for reductions in GST on health insurance premiums, increased tax exemptions, and the establishment of a dedicated health regulator to combat rising medical costs.