Budget 2023-24: Sitharaman's meetings with stakeholders to begin on Nov 21

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s pre-Budget meetings are expected to begin on November 21, Business Standard has learnt.

Seven meetings will take place between November 21 and 24, while the pre-Budget interaction with state finance ministers is expected to take place in December in Madurai, along with the Goods and Service Tax Council meeting.

The pre-Budget consultations between November 21 and 24 will be with representatives from agriculture and agro processing industry, industry bodies, infrastructure and climate change, financial sector and capital markets, services and trade, social sector, trade union & labour organisations, and economists.

As is the norm every year, the finance minister, five secretaries of the ministry, chief economic advisor, and other officials meet interest groups and seek their suggestions ahead of the Budget. These meetings involve the representatives listing out their expectations and demands from the budget.

But these aren’t the only pre-Budget meetings to seek inputs. Officials from the expenditure and economic affairs departments meet representatives from all the central government ministries, agencies, and Union Territories. The aim of these meetings is to set Revised Estimates for FY23 and Budget Estimate allocations for FY24.

Additionally, Prime Minister also meets industry leaders ahead of the Budget, in a meeting organised by NITI Aayog. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s economic wing also presents its recommendations to the finance minister after interacting with stakeholders from across the country.

The 2023 Union Budget is expected to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1. In October, she had said the upcoming Budget would have to be ‘very carefully structured’ in order to maintain growth momentum and reel in inflation, which she identified as the biggest challenge facing the Indian economy.