Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman winds up pre-Budget meetings for forthcoming Union Budget 2022-23

Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman winds up pre-Budget meetings for forthcoming Union Budget 2022-23 Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, presided over the pre-budget consultation meetings for Budget 2022-23, which held virtually from December 15th to December 22nd, 2021. More than 120 invitees from seven stakeholder groups attended the eight meetings scheduled during this time period. Agriculture and agro-processing industry representatives and specialists; Industry, Infrastructure, and Climate Change; Financial Sector and Capital Markets; Services and Trade; Social Sector; Trade Unions and Labour Organizations; and Economists are among the stakeholder groups. Union Ministers of State for Finance Shri Pankaj Chaudhary and Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Finance Secretary Shri T.V. Somanathan, DEA Secretary Shri Ajay Seth, DIPAM Secretary Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Financial Services Secretary Shri Debashish Panda, Corporate Affairs Secretary Shri Rajesh Verma, Revenue Secretary Shri Tarun Bajaj and senior officers from the Ministry of Finance were also present. Secretaries from different Ministries/ Departments were able to participate over the internet. The stakeholder groups submitted multiple recommendations on a variety of problems, including increased R&D spending, infrastructure status for digital services, incentives for hydrogen storage and fuel cell development, income tax slab rationalisation, investments in online safety measures, and so on. The participants praised the government's efforts in managing the economy efficiently during the pandemic while maintaining India's position as the world's fastest developing major economy. Smt. Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, thanked the participants for their insightful recommendations and promised them that they would be carefully studied as the Budget for 2022-23 is prepared.