Consultation process for Union Budget 2025-26 starts today
New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to start the consultation process for the Union Budget 2025-26, which is likely to be presented on February 1, on Friday by taking suggestions from eminent economists.
Friday’s meeting with economists will be a part of a series of pre-budget stakeholder meetings to be held this month.
According to sources, the finance minister is scheduled to hold consultation with farmer associations, agricultural economists and representatives from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) on Saturday.
Total nine pre-budget consultation meetings are planned with different stakeholder groups. Majority of the meetings are likely to happen in the last week of December.
The meeting with representatives of the trade and services sector is scheduled to take place on December 26, followed by trade unions and representatives from financial sector and capital markets on December 27, sources said.
Representatives from infrastructure, energy and urban sectors are likely to meet Finance Minister Sitharaman and other officials to give their suggestions on December 28.
Representatives from industry chambers like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other industry stakeholders are likely to meet the finance minister with their demand and suggestions on December 30.
Stakeholders from social sectors like education and health are also likely to present their demands and suggestions on December 30.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to present the Union Budget 2025-26 in Parliament on February 1. Until 2016, the union budget used to be presented in Parliament on the last day of February. Prime Minister Narendra Modi government scrapped this tradition in 2017.
The then finance minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2017-18 on February 1, 2017. Since then the central budget is presented on the first day of February, except the general election years of 2019 and 2024 when the full budgets were presented in July post the formation of the new government.
Sitharaman, who presented her maiden budget on July 5, 2019, is set to present her eighth budget in a row. With presentation of seven consecutive budgets, Sitharaman already holds the record of presenting the highest number of successive budgets. In July 2024, she surpassed Morarji Desai’s record of presentation of 6 consecutive budgets between 1959 and 1964.
