Overview
- The Finance Minister launched the pre-Budget consultation cycle in New Delhi, with the DEA Secretary, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran and senior Finance Ministry officials in attendance.
- Participants urged sustained public capex, a stronger manufacturing and MSME push, deeper R&D investment and job creation while preserving fiscal discipline, with suggestions on a broader manufacturing policy and simpler customs.
- A separate session with agriculturists focused on raising rural incomes, improving productivity and agri-infrastructure, better price realisation, climate resilience, credit access and technology use in value chains.
- Industry chambers have already submitted proposals seeking comprehensive tax reforms, simpler TDS, digitised customs processes and measures to ease MSME liquidity and compliance burdens.
- Further meetings this week will bring in MSME and manufacturing stakeholders to discuss credit flow, ease of doing business and boosting domestic production and exports, set against Q2 momentum despite higher US tariffs in August.