Modi 3.0: Finance Minister Sitharaman Likely To Present Budget In Third Week Of July
Key policy priorities for Modi 3.0 include agriculture sector stress, job creation, and revenue growth
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may present the Union Budget 2024-25 during the third week of July—the week when budget session begins, NDTV reported quoting sources.
The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance will conduct a separate session for the Union Budget in parliament after the initial session, which will run from 24 June to 3 July, the report said.
The report comes as Sitharaman assumed her position as Finance Minister on Wednesday for her second consecutive term, becoming the first woman to serve as a minister in three consecutive terms under the Modi government.
Sitharaman is expected to outline the government's economic agenda when she presents the first annual budget of Modi's third term next month, PTI reported on Wednesday. Her responsibilities include implementing measures to boost growth without increasing inflation and identifying resources to meet the coalition government's commitments, the report said.
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, PTI added.
The economic agenda would include steps to fast-rack reforms to make India a $5-trillion economy in near future and turn the country into a 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, PTI reported.
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India has lifted the real GDP growth forecast for the ongoing fiscal to 7.2% from 7% earlier. The central bank sees GDP growth for the first, second, third and fourth quarter of the current fiscal at 7.3%, 7.2%, 7.3% and 7.2% respectively. The central bank also retained the inflation forecast for the ongoing fiscal at 4.5%, with headline CPI softening further, despite a reversal in food inflation gains.
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on 24 June for the oath or affirmation of newly elected members, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday.
President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 27 June, likely outlining the new government's roadmap for the next five years.
