FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds meeting with industry stakeholders on next Budget

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met representatives from different sectors, including manufacturing, capital markets and startups, to seek their views for the upcoming budget, which is likely to be presented on February 1 next year.

Top executives of several companies and heads of industry bodies, including CII President Rajiv Memani, Assocham President Nirmal Kumar Minda, and FICCI Vice-President Vijay Sankar, attended the meeting focused on manufacturing.

The meeting was also attended by Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur, and Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran, the Union Finance Ministry said in a post on X.

Representatives from BSE, Multi-Commodity Exchange, Association of Mutual Funds in India, Association of Registered Investment Advisers, and Commodity Participants Association of India participated in the meeting focused on the issues related to capital markets.

According to sources, the capital markets representatives pitched for reductions in transaction tax and measures to further deepen the financial markets.

The representatives suggested that securities transaction tax (STT), which is levied on every purchase and sale of securities that are listed on the recognised stock exchanges, should be lowered.

The industry representatives also pitched for aligning short-term dividend tax for domestic investors with the NRI rate. Non-resident Indians (NRIs) pay 20 per cent tax on short-term dividends, while domestic investors face up to 42 per cent tax.

BoAt co-founder Aman Gupta, eVidyaloka chairperson Ravichandran V, founders and top executives of other startups attended the meeting focused on discussing the issues related to the country's startup ecosystem.