In his first such interaction with a set of noted economists and experts organised by Niti Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for innovative approaches to budget-making, and a special focus on skill development and tourism.
Attending the session on "Economic Policy - The Road Ahead", the prime minister said the budget has a significant effect effect on India's real economy and wanted this yearly exercise to be given prime importance.
Till date, Modi observed, such exercises earmarked expenditure only at the onset of monsoon, which was not desirable.
That is the reason why the presentation date of Budget 2017-18 is being advanced so that a roadmap is ready before the beginning of the financial year, he added.
A range of issues covering subjects such as agriculture, skill development, job creation, taxation and tariff related matters, education, digital technology, housing, tourism, banking, governance reform, data driven policy and future steps for growth were discussed.
Besides Niti Aayog and Finance Ministry officials, the session was attended by economists and experts, including Pravin Krishna, Sukhpal Singh, Vijay Paul Sharma, Neelkanth Mishra, Surjit Bhalla, Pulak Ghosh, Govinda Rao, Madhav Chavan, N.K. Singh, Vivek Dehejia, Pramath Sinha, Sumit Bose and T.N. Ninan.
