Overview
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leading economists and sector experts on December 30 at NITI Aayog with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior officials in attendance as part of the final pre-Budget outreach.
- Discussions centered on mission-mode reforms for the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, with emphasis on boosting productivity through AI, expanding Digital Public Infrastructure, lifting household savings and strengthening infrastructure.
- Participants proposed tax incentives to raise household financial savings, targeted support for data centres, AI and robotics, export diversification using trade agreements and a strategy to secure critical minerals.
- Fiscal options were debated, including a calibrated return to consolidation after recent capex-heavy budgets versus sustaining public investment while safeguarding priority projects and ongoing works.
- Experts flagged needs such as subsidy rationalisation, clearer tax rules, incentives for private investment and concerns over FDI outflows and steep US tariffs on Indian shipments, with no policy decisions announced yet.