Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is expected to present his maiden Budget in the first week of July, is all set to begin pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders beginning Thursday.

To begin with, Jaitley will hold consultations with the farm sector, which is facing uncertainties such as a drought scare due to sub-normal or delayed monsoon on account of possible El Nino effects.

The Budget 2014, the first major policy document of the Narendra Modi government, will give a broad view of Modi’s economic agenda for a country which is looking for a turnaround.

As part of the customary exercise, the Finance Minister will also hold consultations with representatives of industry chambers, trade union, financial services sector and state finance ministers in the coming days. Jaitley will also meet representatives of the social sector related groups in the run-up to the Budget.

At these meetings, the minister is usually flooded with sector-specific suggestions for the Budget.

Observing that the priority of the government is to maintain a balance between growth and inflation, Jaitley said, “The government is also concerned with restarting the investment cycle and moving towards higher growth and employment generation.

“We would like to address the problem of inflation through supply-side measures, particularly in relation to food inflation. Fiscal consolidation is a priority for the government,” he said.

Besides clearing pending issues and decisions, the BJP government wants to accelerate economic growth by completing infrastructure projects in a time-bound manner, exploiting natural resources as well as increasing investment.

Among other things the finance minister will have to focus on streamlining subsidies which consume a major portion of government expenditure.

Jaitley, who assumed charge on May 27 and has been briefed by the secretaries in the five departments of the Finance Ministry, had said he was taking over in challenging times. “The challenges are very obvious. We have to restore the pace of growth, contain inflation and obviously concentrate on fiscal consolidation,” Jaitley had said.

Asked how bad the economic situation was, Jaitley summed it up as: “A lot of unpaid bills.”

Fuel and fertiliser subsidies worth `80,000 crore have been rolled over from the fourth quarter of 2013-14 to the current financial year. (New Indian Express)