Economists seek lower import tariffs at pre-budget meeting with PM Modi

They called on the government to sign more free trade deals and reduce logistics costs to lift the export sector. They also urged interventions in the agricultural sector, including support measures for farmer producer organisations (FPOs), people familiar with the deliberations told ET. “Earlier today, interacted with eminent economists and heard their insightful views on issues pertaining to furthering growth,” the PM posted on X.

One of the persons who attended said, “Prime Minister heard all the suggestions.”

Economists pitched for a continued capital expenditure push to support growth and fiscal consolidation. They cautioned the government to watch out for inflation, which could dampen rural sentiment.
The government has raised capex since the pandemic to offset slack private investment. It raised the capex outlay by 17% to ₹11.11 lakh crore in the interim budget in February. The government had pegged the fiscal deficit at 5.1% of GDP for FY25 in the interim budget.Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the first budget of the new NDA government on July 23. The budget is expected to lay out a road map for making India a developed nation by 2047. “The meeting focused on the growth agenda for Viksit Bharat and a lot of suggestions came in for boosting the farm economy, exports and domestic manufacturing as well as job creation,” said one of the persons.The economists were divided on the rupee with some favouring a stronger currency and others not so keen, said another person who was present at the meeting. Suggestions were also made on improving the quality of education and skilling to improve employability, one of the persons said. Focussed interventions in the rural sector were also suggested. The meeting was also attended by finance minister Sitharaman, 17 independent economists and experts, planning minister Rao Inderjit Singh and members of the NITI Aayog, including its vice chairman Suman Bery and its CEO BVR Subrahmanyam.

Some of the experts and economists present at the meeting held at the NITI Aayog included KV Kamath, Ashok Gulati, Surjit Bhalla and Karthik Muralidharan. Sitharaman has already concluded her pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including economists, industry and trade unions.