Finance minister to begin pre-Budget consultation from Friday

New Delhi: After reviewing all the concerned ministries, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will start pre-Budget consultations with various stakeholders beginning Friday as part of Budget making exercise. The first meeting as part of this series will be held with eminent economists on December 6. The pre-Budget consultations are expected to end on December 30 with consultations with captains of Indian industry and players in the social sector, especially education and health, according to the sources.

Sitharaman, who will chair these meetings, will seek their inputs regarding the upcoming Budget amid a seven-quarter low GDP print of 5.4 per cent in second quarter of the current financial year, followed by a meeting with farmer associations and agriculture economists and stakeholders in the MSME sector on December 7.

Union Budget 2025-26 is likely to be tabled in Parliament on February 1. This would be the eighth straight Budget of Sitharaman and second full budget of the Modi 3.0 government, which will give policy direction for achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat (developed India) by 2047.

Besides the finance minister, all top secretaries in the finance ministry and departments are expected to be present in the meeting. The Budget for the current fiscal had projected a nominal GDP growth of 10.5 per cent, while fiscal deficit was pegged at 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).