Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with a group of eminent economists and thought leaders on Tuesday in preparation for the Union Budget 2025-26 at NITI Aayog. The theme of the meeting was “Maintaining India’s growth momentum at a time of Global uncertainty”.
In the pre-budget meeting, PM Modi highlighted that the dream of “Viksit Bharat” can be achieved through a fundamental change in mindset, which is focused on making India developed by 2047.
Participants shared their views on several significant issues including navigating challenges posed by global economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions, strategies to enhance employment, particularly among youth and create sustainable job opportunities across sectors, strategies to align education and training programs with the evolving needs of the job market, enhancing agricultural productivity and creating sustainable rural employment opportunities, attracting private investment and mobilizing public funds for infrastructure projects to boost economic growth and create jobs and promoting financial inclusion and boosting exports and attracting foreign investment.
Multiple renowned economists and analysts participated in the interaction, including Surjit S Bhalla, Ashok Gulati, Sudipto Mundle, Dharmakirti Joshi, Janmejaya Sinha, Madan Sabnavis, Amita Batra, Ridham Desai, Chetan Ghate, Bharat Ramaswami, Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Siddhartha Sanyal, Laveesh Bhandari, Rajani Sinha, Keshab Das, Pritam Banerjee, Rahul Bajoria, Nikhil Gupta and Shashwat Alok.
Focus On Stepping Up Growth
The key focus of the meeting was on boosting economic growth and advancing reforms across various sectors, including agriculture and taxation. Experts emphasised the need for a stronger value chain for key vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and potatoes (TOP).