New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired another pre-Budget meeting, this time with the stakeholders from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, to gather their inputs and suggestions for the upcoming Budget for 2025-26.
The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary; Finance Secretary; DIPAM Secretary; Department of Economic Affairs Secretary; Chief Economic Adviser; among others.
Members from Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE); Karnataka SC and ST Entrepreneurs Association; Plant-Based Food Industry Association (PBFIA); Ambala Scientific Instruments Manufacturers Association (ASIMA); Rajasthan Footwear Manufacturers Association; The All-India Plastics Manufacturers Association; All India Manufacturers Association; Gujarat Chamber of Small Industries Association; Federation of Associations of Cottage and Small Industries (Based in West Bengal); Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small and Medium Association; and Laghu Udyog Bharati were among the participants at the meeting.
Further details about the discussions or deliberations that happened at the meeting are not yet in the public domain.
The Finance Ministry conducts several pre-Budget consultation meetings annually with experts, industry leaders, economists, and state officials. The formal exercise to prepare the annual Budget for the next financial year has already begun.
As in previous years, the Budget for 2025-26 is expected to be tabled on February 1.
The 2025-26 Budget will mark Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's eighth. All eyes will be on the key announcements and the government's forward-looking economic guidance for the remainder of the Modi 3.0 tenure.
Prior to this meeting with MSMEs, Sitharaman already chaired two such meetings with leading economists, farmer associations; and leading agricultural economists. (ANI)