Finance Minister- Pre-Budget Consultations 2020-21
First Pre-Budget Consultations with the representatives
The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman started her Pre-Budget Consultations with different stakeholder Groups in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21 here today. Her first meeting was with the stakeholder Groups from Digital Economy, Fintech and Start-ups.
The main areas of discussion during the aforesaid meeting included Data Issues such as the use of Big Data technology, phenomena by analysing large data sets, Use of Big Data Technology for SME Sector and unleashing the power of Big Data for Public Governance. Other issues which dominated the discussion included Digital Infrastructure & Role of Government, Regulation of Digital Economy especially in privacy, Financial Regulation, Ease of doing business environment for start-ups, infrastructure gaps for digital India, Taxation issues among others.
Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Finance Secretary, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information technology, Shri Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, Shri P.K Das, Chairman, CBIC, Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.
The representatives of Digital Economy, Fintech and Start-ups shared their views and suggestions regarding Big Data, incentives for encouraging setting up of data centres, fiscal incentives for data localisation, incentives for pushing digital penetration in rural areas, corporate guarantee to start-ups for competing with other nations, rationalisation of the MAT tax rate, tax exemption for start-up units, creation of a specific agency for looking after cross border financial crimes, increasing women employment (gender dividend in skill development), training youth in skill development along with international internships and incentivising Research & Development (R&D) within India. While the experts suggested improvements in their respective fields, they also gave a variety of solutions to the sector-specific problems. Many speakers suggested giving tax sops to Start-Ups and nurture them in the country.
The participants included Shri Deepak Acharya, Global Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Wipro Ltd., Shri. Mandeep Singh Puri, Chairman, Electronic and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, Ms Vishakha Saigal Jio Mobiles, Shri Dheeraj P. Sharma. Director, IIM Rohtak, Shri George Paul CEO, MAIT, Shri Ashish Aggarwal, Head of Public Policy, Nasscom, Shri Suneel Maggo, President, Chamber of Start-ups, Industries and Entrepreneur (India) Council, Shri Raj Nehru, Vice-Chancellor, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Shri Anand Nandkumar, Indian School of Business, Shri Amrit Manwani, President, ELCIN, Shri Peyush Bansal, Founder, Lenskart, Shri Amit Bansal, Head of Tax, Uber India and South Asia, Shri H. Nagaraj, Financial Controller, Velankani Electronics (P) Ltd., Shri Virat Bhatia, Managing Director, Strategy & Policy, Apple India, Shri N.K. Goyal, President, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India, Shri Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, Indian Cellular & Electronics Association. Ms. Deepa Mani, Professor, Indian School of Business, Shri Hari Om Rai, Chairman & Managing Director, Lava International Ltd and Shri Madhur Deora, Paytm.
FM holds Pre-Budget Consultation with representatives of the Financial Sector and Capital Markets
The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held her second Pre- Budget Consultation meeting with the stakeholders from the Financial Sector and Capital Markets in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21 here today.
The main areas of discussion during the meeting included issues namely increasing credit off-take from Banks, Governance changes in PSBs with special focus on PJ Nayak Committee recommendations, Creation of well-functioning bond markets, benefits of Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme, Alternative Investment Funds in Real Estate Sector, measures for alleviating stress among NBFCs among others.
Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Finance Secretary, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, Shri P.K Das, Chairman, CBIC, Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.
With a view to give a boost to Indian markets, the representatives of Financial Sector & Capital Markets submitted several suggestions concerning enhancing credit off-take from banks, PSBs governance, Risk capital issues, improving functioning and alleviation of stress among NBFCs, Alternative Investment funds, Mutual funds, commercial papers and standardisation of Bond features, promoting leasing by reducing GST, reduction of GST rates on Term insurance for increasing its penetration and to provide easier credit to digitally active users by streamlining KYC norms. Suggestions were also received for enhancing support from Private Banks to Stand up India Scheme.
Finance Minister- Pre-Budget Consultations 2020-21
Major Stakeholders of Financial Sector and Capital Markets participated in the meeting including Shri N. S. Vishwanathan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Shri Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India, Shri Supratim Bandopadhyay, WTM (F) PFRDA, Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch, Whole Time Member, SEBI, Shri L. V. Prabhakar. Executive Director, Punjab National Bank, Shri M.R. Kumar, Chairman, LIC, Shri Uday Kotak, MD & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Shri S.L. Jain, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda, Shri Ashok Swarup, MD, Head of Government Affairs and Business Development, CITI Bank, Shri Rashesh Shah, CEO, Edelweiss, Shri Rakesh Diwan, Senior General Manager, The Muthoot Group, Shri Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bandhan Bank, Shri N.S. Venkatesh, Chief Executive, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), Shri N.S. Kannan, CEO, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited, Shri Navin Ashok Kumar Chandani, Chief Business Officer, Bank Bazaar, Shri Raman Aggarwal, Co-Chairman, Finance Industry Confirm Development Council (FIDC), Shri Prasanna Balachander, Group Head Global Markets, ICICI Bank Ltd, Shri Rahul Shukla, Group Head, Corporate Banking and Confirm Business Banking, HDFC Bank Ltd, Shri Milind Kamble, Chairman, DICCI, Shri Prashant Tripathy, MD and CEO of Max Life Insurance among others.
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman holds Pre-Budget consultation with Finance Ministers of State/UTs
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held the Pre-Budget consultations with Finance Ministers of States and UTs (with legislature) here today.
The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of Goa, Haryana and Puducherry, Deputy Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Tripura as well as 17 Finance Ministers/Ministers representing their states and senior Officers from Union Government and States. Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs Shri Anurag Singh Thakur also attended the meeting.
Smt. Sitharaman elucidated Union Government’s philosophy of “Cooperative Federalism” and steps taken by the Union Government to bolster the growth of the economy. State Governments welcomed the opportunity to present their views and expressed their suggestions on growth, investment, resource requirement and Fiscal Policy. They also suggested measures to strengthen cooperation between States and Centre to attain a $5 trillion economies.
The Finance Minister welcomed the suggestions made by the State/UTs in the meeting. She assured that the memorandums submitted by State/UTs will be examined and suitably considered.
FM holds Pre-Budget Consultation with representatives of various Trade Unions and Labour Organisations
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held her 5th Pre-Budget Consultation with the representatives of various Trade Unions and Labour Organisations here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
During the course of the meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding labour and employment issues. Discussions were held on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of the existing labour force. Quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers were discussed.
Along with the Union Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Singh, Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs; Shri Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser; Shri Heeralal Samariya, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment; Shri H. Srinivas, DG, V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and other senior officials of Ministry of Finance.
During the meeting, representatives of Trade Unions and Labour Organisations shared their views and suggestions regarding job creation, labour concerns and quality of employment issues. The participants aired their concerns about the provision of social security to labour besides skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of the existing labour force. They also emphasised the quality of job creation and ensuring minimum wages of workers in detail besides the need for streamlining various schemes to have better results. Experts and representatives from various Trade Unions (TUs) and Labour Organisations gave suggestions related to skill development in labour-intensive areas, alignment of skill development initiatives with cluster developments, creation of a dedicated fund for skill enhancement, allocation of more funds to MGNREGA scheme, an increase of a number of days of work under MGNREGA, legislation for various welfare schemes for permanent benefits, profiling job according to skill-sets, a separate fund for the revival of job creation via MSMEs, increase in social sector spending, unorganised sector workers’ benefits including landless farm labourers, strengthening of tripartite & bipartite mechanisms, consultations with TUs for finalising Code on Safety, Industrial Relations & Social Security.
Participants from various labour organisations included Shri B. Surendran, All India Organising Secretary, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh BMS); Shri Santosh Roy, National Secretary, All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU); Shri Anil Bhardwaj, President, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME); Shri Ashok Singh, Vice President, India National Trade Union Congress (INTUC); Shri Satyawan, Member, All India Secretariat All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC); Shri M. Shanmugam, M.P. General Secretary, Labour Progressive Federation (LPF); Ms Amarjeet Kaur, General Secretary, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC); Shri Swadesh Dev Roye, National Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU); Shri Mukesh Galav, Secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha; Ms Malini Shah, National Secretary, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA); Mr Satoshi Sasaki, Dy. Director, ILODWT for South Asia and Country Office for India; Shri K.V. Shekhar Raju, Immediate Past National President, The Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII); Shri Sanjay Katkamar , General Secretary, Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC); Shri D.L. Sharma, Managing Director, Vardhman Yarns & Threads Ltd.; Shri Arvind Francis, Assistant Secretary General, FICCI, Shri Pawan Kumar, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) among others.
FM holds Pre-Budget Consultation with Prominent Economists
Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held her 8th Pre-Budget Consultation Meeting with the leading Economists here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
The main focus areas of the discussions included steps needed to achieve $5 trillion economies, job-oriented growth with a focus on manufacturing and services, transparency of fiscal arithmetic, monetary transmission, Government’s fiscal prudence and fiscal stimulus, the revival of NBFCs and inflation targeting among others.
Finance Minister- Pre-Budget Consultations 2020-21
Along with the Finance Minister, the said aforesaid meeting was attended by Shri Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Shri Tuhin Kant Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.
The Economists were optimistic about the India growth story and put forward ways through which India can achieve the goal of a $5 trillion economies. Among the key suggestions were to attract more investment to support growth; streamlining policy matters and faster resolution of policy issues in all sectors; fiscal management; reforms in the power sector; focus on long-term reforms through structural reforms in simplification of GST and Direct Tax Code reforms; securing supply chains for the economy; fiscal deficit; continuity in economic policy making; land and labour reforms; ways to enhance rural demand; improve oversight of financial markets; reforms in small savings rate; boosting agricultural exports; simplifying procedures to give financial savings a shot in the arm.
The major participants in the aforesaid meeting included Shri Neelkanth Mishra, Credit Suisse; Shri Rathin Roy, Director, NIFP; Shri Sunil Jain, Managing Editor, Financial Express; Shri Shekhar Shah, Director General, NCAER; Shri Arvind Virmani, Economist; Shri Surjit S. Bhalla, Managing Director, O(X)US Investment; Shri Abheek Barua, Chief Economist, HDFC Bank; Shri Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, State Bank of India; Shri Ajit Mishra, Director, Institute of Economic Growth; Shri Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group; Shri Prasanna Tantri, Assistant Professor (Finance), Indian School of Business; Shri Rahul Bajoria, Chief Economist, Barclays Investment Bank and Shri SuvodeepRakshit, Vice President, Kotak Securities Ltd.; Shri Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, RIS; among others.
Shri Anurag Thakur holds Pre-Budget Consultation with representatives from Health, Education and Rural Development Sectors
Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Thakur held 10th and final Pre-Budget Consultation meeting with the leading representatives from Health, Education and Rural Development Sectors here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
The main areas of the discussion by the representatives in the aforesaid meeting was related to improving efficiency in the delivery of health services; devising innovative ways to reach primary health care facilities for marginalised sections; improving learning outcomes at primary level while also making secondary and higher-level education accessible and affordable; reforms related to pension and social protections especially for the weaker sections; the focus of Government on public investment in the social sector; gender equality with the bottom’s up methodology; ways to boost the economic and social infrastructure of the rural sector and ways to eradicate unemployment and poverty through the development of agriculture and the allied sector as well as non-farm sector.
Along with the Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Anurag Thakur the said aforesaid meeting was attended by Shri Rajeev Kumar, Finance Secretary; Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Smt. Preeti Sudan, Secretary, Deptt. of Health & Family Welfare; Shri Amit Khare, Secretary (Addl. Charge), Department of School Education and Literacy; Shri Amarjeet Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development; Shri Balram Bhargava, Secretary, DHR & DF, ICMR, Shri V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.
Among the many suggestions given by representatives of Health, Education and Rural Development Sectors were benefits of child budgeting; a dedicated National Fund for protection of children; eradication of child labour; collecting gender-disaggregated data by a National mission; policy to encourage healthy food habits via measures like higher taxes on sin products; broadening, expanding and strengthening PDS; land titles to women in view of increasing feminisation of agriculture; changes in general procurement guidelines to include disabled-friendly technology; waiver of tax on assisted technology for disabled persons; better compliance of Right to Education and more financial allocation for secondary level schools, especially to support girl child and widening family healthcare support; augmenting pre-conception, antenatal and postnatal nutrition; employment generation with skill matching for youth in urban areas; focused skill development training for Adivasi and Dalit women; attracting more talent to aspirational districts with provision of tax holiday and a more effective monitoring of funds at Centre-State level.
The major participants in the aforesaid meeting included Shri Abhinav Prakash, CSR Initiatives, Rashtriya Sewa Bharati; Shri Ambrish Rai, National Convenor, Right to Education Forum; Shri Vijay Thadani, Past Chairman, CII Education Council; Smt. Ankita Upreti, Board Member, SEWA Bharat; Shri Anshu Tiwari, Senior Manager, Prayas; Shri Ashok Bharati, Chairman, NACDOR; Shri Adikanda Singh, National Co-ordinator, Dalit Arthik Adhikar Andolan, National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights; Ms Bhavna B. Mukhopadhyay, Chief Executive, Voluntary Health Association of India; Smt. Bidisha Pillai, CEO, Save the Children; Smt Dipa Sinha, Member Secretariat, Right to Food Campaign; Shri Dipendra Manocha, Managing Trustee, Saksham; Shri Hari Menon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Smt. Hemalatha R., Director, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Department of Health Research; Shri Chandrakant Lakhariya, National Professional Officer (Health Care, Access and Protection), WHO India; Shri Madan Diwan, Social Economist; Shri Rohit Prasad, COO, Help Age India, Shri Naresh Trehan, Executive Director, Public Health CII Centre Office; Shri Preeti Mahara, Director, Policy Research & Advocacy, CRY-Child Rights and You; Shri Samir Mathur, CEO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan; Smt. Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Assistant Secretary General – Health & Higher Education, FICCI; Mr Terry Durnnian, Chief Education Section, UNICEF; Shri S.M. Mehta, CEO, The Hans Foundation; Shri Yogendra Malik, National Secretary, National Medicos Organisation and Smt. Dipali Sharma, Action Aid Association among others.
FM holds Pre-Budget Consultation with representatives from Water and Sanitation sectors
Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman held her 9th Pre-Budget Consultation meeting with the leading representatives from Water and Sanitation sectors here today in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2020-21.
Along with the Finance Minister, the said aforesaid meeting was attended by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs; Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DEA; Shri Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary; Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, DIPAM; Shri Parameswaran Iyer, Secretary, Department of Drinking water and Sanitation, Shri Amarjeet Sinha, Secretary Ministry Rural Development; Shri V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT; Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.
During the aforesaid meeting, discussions were held on challenges faced in providing quality of water, sanitation, solid waste management and drainage in India. Experts also talked about removing disparities in accessing sanitation and quality of water. Experts felt there is a need to scale up rural sanitation and hygiene besides providing sustainable solutions to water scarcity and health issues. Representatives from Water and Sanitation sectors also apprised the Finance Minister of ground realities and gave many suggestions to tackle current challenges. Suggestions were related to areas of maintenance of septic tank; decentralisation of waste management system, focus on waste conservation; a bottom’s up approach for effective implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme; demand-side management for water allocation; community water management programme in urban areas, focus on behaviour change communication; region-specific differentiated best practices/model; collectivisation of sanitation workers; eco-friendly sewage treatment; measurement of service standards in core services vis-à-vis urban and rural areas; incentivising wastewater treatment and recycling; developing the capacity to recharge groundwater and focusing on women empowerment through health, water and sanitation among others.
The major participants in the aforesaid meeting included Shri Arumugam Pillai Kalimuthu, Managing Trustee, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Institute; Shri Bin Chacko, Manager, Government Relations, World Vision India; Ms Jyoti Sharma, President, FORCE; Shri Manoj Ramchandra Sable, Chief Executive Officer, JAAGAR Enterprises; Shri Shaonli Chakraborty, Swasti, (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene); Shri V.K. Madhavan, Chief Executive Officer, Water Aid India; Ms Sajeev S. Jha, Programme Manager, India Sanitation Coalition, FICCI; Shri Avinash Sapru, Action Aid; Shri Asadullah, Programme Director CBGA; Shri Chandrakant Lahariya, National Professional Officer (Health Care, Access and Protection) to represent WHO India and Shri Nicolas Osbert, Chief Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Section, UNICEF.
Source: Ministry of Finance
