New Delhi, June 20 (Agency) As part of the pre-Budget meeting with various stakeholders, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday met representatives of industries. Some of the leading industry bodies which participated in the meeting included CII, FICCI, PHDCCI and Assocham. This was the third such pre-Budget consultation meeting chaired by the Finance Minister. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance were also present during the key meet.
During the meeting, industry body PHDCCI suggested 10 reforms to strengthen India’s journey towards ‘Viksit Bharat’. It called for reforms to enhance manufacturing share in GDP to 25% by 2030 and also proposed to expand the PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme beyond the 14 sectors with addition of more labour intensive sectors. The industry body also suggested a change in Classification Norms of MSMEs for NPAs from the 90 days limit to 180 days. Among other key suggestions were rationalization of direct taxes for the middle class and greater focus on tier 2 and 3 cities with state of the art infrastructure and smart villages with adequate facilitation of public utilities. Vivek Jalan, Chairman of National Fiscal Affairs and Taxation Committee, Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry also attended the pre-Budget meeting and suggested easing of licenses requirements for imports of electronics and online processing of customs refund applications among other recommendations.
Earlier in the day, Sitharaman held the second pre-Budget consultation meeting with leading experts of the financial and capital markets. The Union Budget 2024-25 is expected to be presented in Parliament next month. As this will be the first Budget of the Modi 3.0 government, it may lay the blueprint for making India the third largest economy in the world in coming years and also making India a developed nation by 2047. With jobs emerging as a key challenge, the Budget could provide measures to boost employment in the country. The focus on infrastructure is set to continue given its multiplier effect in the economy. The Indian economy has been the fastest-growing major economy in the world and clocked 7.8% year-on-year growth in January-March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 on the back of strong performance by sectors such as manufacturing, services and construction.