FM Sitharaman Holds Pre-Budget Meet With BJP Leaders, PM Modi Meets Niti Aayog

Pre-budget discussions are in full swing as national leaders seek suggestions from various stakeholders to revive the country's economy that could be possibly slowing down its growth to an 11-year of 5 percent.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met economists, private equity and venture capitalists, business leaders and agri experts at Niti Aayog calling for focussed efforts from all stakeholders to achieve the target of nearly doubling the size of the Indian economy to $5 trillion by 2024, said an official statement.

"The strong absorbent capacity of the Indian economy shows the strength of basic fundamentals of the Indian economy and its capacity to bounce back," Modi said in the statement.

On the same day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held four rounds of pre-budget consultations with BJP leaders at the party headquarters, seeking feedback.

BJP working president J P Nadda, general secretaries B L Santhosh, Bhupender Yadav and Arun Singh were among those who attended the meeting.

"We are confident that a pro-people budget will be presented," said Arun Singh to the press.

Party spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal told PTI that the BJP has been holding a series of meetings with various stakeholders, including business leaders, farmer bodies and trade unions, as part of its pre-budget dialogue which began on 19 December and will conclude on 14 January.

PM Modi has also held as many 12 brainstorming meetings with different stakeholders over various issues affecting the economy and to make appropriate policy interventions in the upcoming budget.

Modi also met top business tycoons of the country, including Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani on Monday.

On 1 February, the first budget in the second term of Modi-government will be presented in the Parliament. The first phase of the budget session will begin on 31 January.

This budget is crucial to the government as the country faces slowdown in economic growth and consumption demand. The Niti Aayog meeting assumes significance as it is the Government of India's policy think-tank.