New Delhi: After concluding his two-nation visit to Russia and Austria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reached New Delhi. Ahead of the upcoming Union Budget presentation, the Prime Minister along with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a meeting with top economists and experts with media reports suggesting that the key agenda was on job generation.
The meeting was started around 12 noon on Thursday with experts like Surjit Bhalla, A K Bhattacharya, Professor Ashok Gulati, Gaurabh Ballabh, Amita Batra, Mahendra Dev, and K V Kamath, attending it among others. The report claimed that the meeting was also attended by Niti-Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery and other members.
The Budget is scheduled to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on July 23. In interviews to several media platforms, experts from various domains have expressed their expectations from the upcoming Budget 2024-25, which will be the first such document to be put forth by the Modi 3.0 government. Here’s a look some of these expectations:
Workforce development need of the hour
Experts believe that the Union Budget 2024 should introduce significant initiatives to assist workforce development and job creation for MSMEs in India. They also insisted that one of the key areas of focus should be skill development, with significant funding for upskilling and reskilling programs, and turning the attention towards automation, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. According to the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), only 10% of Indian workers receive formal training compared to 60-90% in wealthy nations.
Reforms to boost real estate: From cheaper home loans to reduced stamp duty
According to media reports, the real estate sector is anticipating reforms to boost housing, office spaces, and commercial areas. Some of the experts believe that if the government lays focus on interest subsidy programs to make home loans more affordable, the sector will see growth. Their expectations also include strategic use of government land to lower project costs and tax incentives to counter rising raw material and land prices. According to a report by Mint, the industry also seeks the revival of the Credit-Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) and reduced stamp duty.
‘Budget may see populist initiatives for the mass’
A section of experts believe that the Budget may include some populist moves for the middle-class and the rural populations. Experts, in an interview to Mint, expressed that there may be populist initiatives such as tax sops and increased handouts for rural mass, which would boost private consumption expenditure. By doing so, the experts believe that the government can give a big boost for sectors such as consumer, tourism, auto and real estate alongside consumer finance companies.
Simplification of GST rules, encouraging investment
Some experts also believe that the government must take steps to boost the economy and tackle the rising inflation by introducing strategies encouraging spending and investment. Towards such goals, the experts believe the government should consider simplification of GST rules and change in tax brackets for consumers.
Tackling the fiscal deficit
According to experts, one of the significant aspects of the Budget would be the Fiscal Deficit target for FY 25 and the trajectory for FY26. In the last interim Budget before the elections, Finance Minister had reiterated that her government’s intended to adhere to fiscal discipline with a target to achieve a deficit of 5.1% for FY25 and below 4.5% for FY26. Now, the big challenge is how does the government delivers what’s promised.
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