PM Modi meets economists ahead of Union Budget

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met eminent economists on Thursday seeking their views ahead of the Union Budget on 23 July.

Sources said that the economists urged the government to take steps to accelerate economic growth and improve infrastructure.

The meeting was held at Niti Aayog in the afternoon, and around 15 economists participated in the meeting. Discussions were also held on the Viksit Bharat @2047 document being prepared by the NITI Aayog.

“Earlier today, interacted with eminent economists and heard their insightful views on issues pertaining to furthering growth,” Modi said in a post on X. Besides economists and sectoral experts, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery, CEO BBR Subramanyam were also present in the meeting.

According to sources, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran, economists Surjit Bhalla, Ashok Gulati, veteran banker K V Kamath, Professor of economics at JNU Amita Batra and S Mahendra Dev, director, IGIDR among others attended the meeting with the PM.

The Budget for 2024-25 will be the first major economic document of the Modi 3.0 government, which, among other things, is expected to lay the road map for making India a developed nation by 2047.