The preparation for the Union Budget 2024-25 commenced as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took charge of the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. Hours after assuming office, she resumed her second inning in the Finance Ministry kicking off preparation for the upcoming Budget 2024-25. She held a key meeting with senior officials directing them to initiate the budget preparation process. Sitharaman emphasized the need for meticulous planning and comprehensive analysis before finalising the budgetary documents.
The meeting aimed to ensure a well-structured budget that addresses the country’s economic priorities and challenges effectively. The Union Budget is likely to be tabled in Parliament by the third week of July.
Priorities for Modi 3.0 government
The key policy priorities for the Modi 3.0 government would include dealing with stress in the agriculture sector, job creation, sustaining capex momentum and pushing revenue growth to stay on the fiscal consolidation path.
Sitharaman’s budget to lay out economic roadmap of Modi 3.0
Back in saddle in signs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi preferring continuity in policy, Sitharaman is likely to lay out the government’s economic agenda when she presents the first annual budget of Modi 3.0 next month.
Her task is cut out as she will have to look at measures to boost growth without hurting inflation as well as look for resources to meet the coalition government’s compulsion.
The economic agenda would include steps to fast-rack reforms to make India a USD 5-trillion economy in near future and turn the country into a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
Last week, RBI projected the economy to grow 7.2 per cent in the current fiscal on the back of improving rural demand and moderating inflation.
The new government inherits a strong economy with fiscal prudence in place. Icing on the cake is a bonanza from RBI which has announced the highest-ever dividend of Rs 2.11 lakh crore for FY24.
Rating agency S&P has already given a thumbs up to economic policies followed by the Modi regime in the past 10 years by upgrading the sovereign rating outlook to positive.