Jaitley's pre-Budget talks with stakeholders from Monday

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will hold pre-Budget 2016-17 consultations with agriculture groups and trade unions on Monday, as part of his programme of discussions with different stakeholders, including industry and economists.

The finance minister's discussions with economists and industry is slated on January 6, and with the IT sector on Thursday.

Jaitley would seek the views of financial sector regulators on January 11, and of the social sector, banks and financial institutions on January 12, the finance ministry said.
 

The government has also invited suggestions from the public for the budget. These can be posted on the http://mygov.nic.in web portal.

The department of expenditure has already been holding meetings with officials of other ministries towards finalising the budget estimates for the Plan and non-Plan expenditure for 2016-17.

The government's mid-year review released last month sharply lowered the economic growth forecast for the current fiscal to the 7-7.5% range, from the previously projected 8.1-8.5%, mainly because of lower agricultural output due to deficit rainfall.