Budget 2024: PM Modi consults economists on all-round growth strategy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday discussed ways to augment all-round growth with economists ahead of his government’s first post-election budget, two persons close to the discussions said.

The discussion was on “ways to accelerate growth and employment across sectors and regions”, which covered all the pressing issues facing the economy, said one of the persons on the condition of anonymity.

Growth and employment generation top the priority list of the Modi administration as the government faces pressure to create adequate opportunities for the country's large workforce. According to UN estimates, 67% of India’s population is between the age of 15 to 64 years, which is considered the working age.

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The focus on augmenting employment opportunities also assumes significance because of climate change's impact on the agriculture sector and increasing automation. Geopolitical uncertainties, too, pose challenges to growth.

Key budget themes

Modi’s discussions with economists indicate that jobs and growth will be key themes in the Budget2024, which will be presented on 23 July.

Indian economy added about 46.7 million jobs in 2023-24, with the country's total employment standing at 643.3 million in the fiscal year, up from 596.7 million in 2022-23, showed a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report released on 8 July.

The discussions also covered the rural economy and ways to step up rural incomes as they drive consumption and the manufacturing sector, said the second person.

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“Earlier today, interacted with eminent economists and heard their insightful views on issues pertaining to furthering the growth,” Modi said in a social media post.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and NITI Aayog vice-chairperson Suman Beri also participated in the discussions.

Budget expectations  

“Besides focusing on infrastructure building and incentivizing the manufacturing sector, one would expect the Union Budget for 2024-25 to focus on job creation and possibly, enhancing fund allocation for health, education and skilling," said an economist from a consulting giant.

"Also, given how technology is transforming the nature of work, the youth, which constitutes a large part of the population, requires upskilling. That is something the government is expected to lay emphasis on,” added the economist who didn't wish to be named.

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Queries emailed to the Prime Minister’s Office and NITI Aayog on Thursday remained unanswered at the time of publishing this story.

After expanding by 8.2% in 2023-24, India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.2% in 2024-25, according to an estimate by the RBI.

Recovering private consumption, investment activity that is continuing to gain traction, the government’s continued focus on capital spending and improved balance sheets of the corporate and banking sector are supporting strong economic growth momentum, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in his June monetary policy statement.