"Aspirations Of 130 Crore Indians...": PM Seeks Inputs For Union Budget

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked people to give suggestions for the next fiscal's Union Budget, which will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The Union Budget this year comes amid a slowdown in the economy that has hurt manufacturing, employment and consumption.

"The Union Budget represents the aspirations of 130 crore Indians and lays out the path towards India's development. I invite you all to share your ideas and suggestions for this year's Budget on MyGov," PM Modi tweeted, referring to the interactive government website where people can discuss policy issues.

The Finance Ministry is also open to taking suggestions to add to the Union Budget. It tweeted it's specifically looking for ideas on what can be done to improve the farm sector and education.

The MyGov forum, launched in July 2014 by PM Modi, encourages "healthy exchange of ideas and views involving the common citizen and experts", it says on its website.

The Union Budget represents the aspirations of 130 crore Indians and lays out the path towards India's development.

I invite you all to share your ideas and suggestions for this year's Budget on MyGov. https://t.co/zVCL06TdLn

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 8, 2020

The government has forecast 5 per cent growth for the current fiscal, the slowest pace in 11 years, which will likely prompt Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to opt for extra fiscal stimulus when she presents the Union Budget next month.

The government is expected to announce tax concessions for individuals and increase spending on infrastructure after cutting corporate tax rates last year. Ms Sitharaman last week unveiled a plan to invest Rs 102 lakh crore in infrastructure over the next five years in a bid to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

Gross domestic product is estimated to grow 5 per cent in 2019/20, slower than the 6.8 per cent growth of 2018-19, the Statistics Ministry said in a statement.