Modi meets eminent economists ahead of July 23 budget

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (11) met eminent economists to elicit their views and suggestions for the upcoming budget, a senior government official said. He arrived for the meeting hours after returning to India from Austria where he went for two days following a three-day trip to Russia earlier this week.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also attended the meeting, will present the the budget for 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament on July 23. It will be the first full-fledged budget of the third Modi government that assumed office last month.

Besides economists and sectoral experts, Suman Bery, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, India's government think tank, and other members also attended the meeting.

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Some of the big names that took part in the meeting besides Modi and Sitharaman were planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh, chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran and economists Surjit Bhalla and Ashok Gulati and veteran banker K V Kamath.

The upcoming budget is expected to lay the road map for making India a developed nation by 2047, the year the country completes a century as an independent nation.

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

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

Indian 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, over  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.

In February, Sitharaman presented an interim budget for 2024-25 in view of the general elections.