The month-long pre-budget consultation meetings for the upcoming Union Budget 2025-26, chaired by Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, have concluded in New Delhi.

The consultations, which began on December 6, brought together more than 100 invitees from nine stakeholder groups, including experts and representatives from sectors such as agriculture, trade unions, education, health, MSMEs, industry, and infrastructure.

Key officials, including Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary of Economic Affairs Ajay Seth, Secretary of Financial Services M. Nagaraju, and Chief Economic Adviser Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, were present at the discussions along with senior officers from the Ministry of Finance and other ministries.

During the consultations, Sitharaman expressed her gratitude to the participants for their valuable suggestions and assured them that their inputs would be carefully reviewed while preparing the Union Budget for 2025-26.

The meetings covered a wide range of topics, addressing the needs and expectations of various sectors of the economy.

In a bid to encourage citizen participation, the Ministry of Finance has announced that, starting from January 10, citizens can submit their ideas and suggestions for the Union Budget 2025-26 through the MyGov platform.

This initiative aims to promote ‘Jan Bhagidari’ (public participation) and make the budget-making process more inclusive.